Throwaway Boyz!

Let me tell you a story...

When this guy was in high school, he helped burn down a federal building. He shot and killed a cow for fun. He stole. He violated his probation and one night after a bar fight. He struck a policeman and this got him a stay in the slams. And that, however, was not the end of his story.

In this guy's own words, he was a “monster”... What the old folks I knew would have called a "hellion". If he had received the fullest possible sentence for his crimes, he would have spent 20 years or more in jail. If he’d been sentenced to life in prison without parole, as some 13 and 14 year-old Americans are, he would never have gone on to college or law school. He would never have served 18 years in the U.S. Senate.

Do you wanna take a guess as to who I'm talking about? (No, it's not me!) The man in question is not some African American homeboy. His name is Alan K. Simpson... a white, Wyoming Republican. When he left the Senate in 1997, few would have recognized him as the high school horror who had so often been in trouble with the law. He credits that night spent in jail after “belting a cop” and the girlfriend who became his wife of 55 years who refused to bail him out, as the turning point that changed his life.

Okay, let me tell you about the second guy...

This man, a big hulk of a man, killed another man in a bar room brawl one night in Baltimore, not far from the very area where the popular television show "The Wire" was filmed. If he had been given a life sentence, you would have never seen his popular sitcom or the many appearances he has made in scores of motion pictures. This guy is black and he is Charles "Roc" Dutton, who began reading and studying while in prison, turned his life around, and became an award-winning actor and producer. The reason why I mention these two is because Dutton and Simpson, two strange bedfellows if ever there were, are coming together to work on keeping juveniles from being sentenced to life in prison.

Now, let me explain before everyone has a fit over what they are proposing...

Alan Simpson knows and has said that teenagers, even the toughest ones, can turn their lives around. He’s joined in an amicus brief with other accomplished men... emmy-winning actor Charles “Roc” Dutton and author R. Dwayne Betts, both of whom were convicted of crimes as juveniles and then turned their lives around. They’re asking the Supreme Court to strike down the practice of sentencing teenagers to life in prison without parole for non-homicide offenses.

This is one of the most important cases to come before the Supreme Court, which began its new term Monday. The two consolidated Florida cases that bring this issue before the court expose the practice in the Sunshine State of deciding that the lives of teenagers are over before they’ve really begun.

In the case of Graham vs. Florida, Terrance Graham was sentenced to life without parole for armed robbery... an offense he committed when he was 16 years old. Joe Sullivan was convicted of committing sexual battery when he was only 13 years old. Just five years ago, the Supreme Court decided in Roper vs. Simmons that the imposition of the death penalty on juveniles violates the 8th Amendment prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment.”

The Graham and Sullivan cases ultimately ask the court to determine whether imposing a form of death on teenagers for non-homicide offenses is similarly unconstitutional. There are currently nine individuals serving life-without-parole terms for offenses they committed when they were 13 or 14 years old. Eight of the nine people are African Americans. This brings up the argument of disproportionate sentencing based on race (another blog post for another time).

When the Supreme Court decides later this year whether a state can constitutionally deny teenagers the kind of second chance that enabled Alan K. Simpson, R. Dwayne Betts, and Charles "Roc" Dutton to turn their lives around, it will not only decide the fate of the nine “lifers.” The court’s decision will also define its character and that of our country for years to come.

I believe in the power of redemption. As I stated in my last post, I don't think our youth are doomed or throwaways to be given up on and discarded. I am a believer in the second chance and third chance. Lord knows, I myself have benefited more than a few times from having another chance... and so can a lot of these 13, 14, 15, and 16 year old kids.

It's at least something we should think on. Have our hearts grown that cold? Have they been hardened that much?