my visit to the juvenile prison

So I have come to realize that my posts always have something to do with criminals. But I've realized seeing how my major is criminal justice, I work for a criminal law attorney, and I volunteer at the DUI van, most of my time is consumed with nothing but criminality. It's okay tho, I like it.

My Juvenile Justice class got to go on a tour of one of the Juvenile Correctional facilities last night and it was an experience. A sad one to say the least. We went to the Adobe Mountain School, which is the largest facility of the 4 in Arizona and this one was held for boys, there are 260 kids at this particular school. The facilities are set up kind of like a capus, they have their housing units, then school units, a medical unit, a food unit, a seperation unit, a pool, football field, basketball court, and some other things. We first went into the sex offender housing unit. We walked in and the boys were just sitting around in the common area waiting for their turn to take a shower, once done they had to stand by their door untill everyone was done and they were let back into their rooms for the night. I expected to see hard looking criminals, but these were just kids. Young teenagers who you would see everyday. I couldn't imagine what had brought these kids to this current location, but it was almost hard to believe because they were just kids. They would wave to us and try to catch our attention bc its not everyday they see a big group of college students. They have treatment programs in this unit designed specifically for sex offenders and they say its very successful.

We also went into a substance abuse unit where all the kids housed there are all dependent on drugs/alcohol. There are 32 kids in this unit and they have their own specialized program to help them deal with their drug problems. Again the boys were just walking around, some in their rooms some taking showers. They had a common area and one boy came out and brought us all chairs without anyone even asking him to do so. He was so polite and my heart just felt so bad for him and the other kids here. We went into a room, and its a tiny room w/ a bed and a desk. They have to keep their rooms clean, beds made, stuff off the floor... they are allowed pictures, some are allowed radios if they have good behavior. If they needed out to go to the bathroom they had to yell for an officer to unlock their door and let them out, then had to be let back in their room. The kids would stare at us through their windows, wave, make faces, just being kids. An officer told us in that unit the drug they see kids using the most is meth, and it messes them up the most. They also see alot of marajuana and heroine use. Again, these kids looked like normal kids, I can't imagine how their lives were on the outside. They are checked on every 15mins during the night to make sure they are not misbehaving, their rooms are searched 3 times a day for contraband.

Some may say, why do you feel bad for them? They chose to make these bad decisions and this is why they are here. However, I disagree. Most of the kids come from families who don't give them the love and attention they need. Either because their parents are drug adicts, gang members, or in prison. Most of these kids have been born into gangs and drugs and they don't know anything else. Their gang is their family because no one else looks after them. These kids don't know anything but the life of a crime/drugs and so that's why the end up in juvy. Which is often times a much better place than where they come from. When a kid is released because they have completed their program and staff decides they are fit to be released into the community, most will re-offend because they are going back to that bad environment they came from. I think these kids are lucky to be in the facility because there they are given the opportunity to change, to get help, to talk about their problems and issues and learn how to cope with them. They also go to school and can get their diploma or GED, which most when they come into the facility have the education of a 7th grader. My heart went out to the kids here and I just wanted to give each of them a hug because they probably haven't had one in months if ever. It seems like they just need someone to love them and be there for them and support them and they would be able to live a normal life. Unfortunately, a lot of them don't have that and are probably going to be in and out of prison their entire life. I cant say that is is the case for each kid because it is not. Some have families who love them and visit them and the kid is just a jerk and won't do the right thing. But most aren't lucky enough to have a good family support system and it is heart breaking. I feel like I live in this perfect buble and am so lucky to have a great family and friends who look out for me and correct me if I make mistakes. When I am exposed to the reality of some peoples lives it makes me want to do something to help. This is part of the reason why I want to go to law school. I want the opportunity to help people who are in terrible situations and get them back on their feet and to change their life.

Sorry this is so long............. I have so much more to talk about from my visit at the prison but I'll save it for another time haha cuz this is getting lengthy. But I just wanted to let you have a feel for what is it like on the otherside, and let you see a little bit of why I do the things I do!

DUI van

Here are a couple pics from the DUI van last Friday, they were taken on my phone with not very much light so they are kind of hard to see.......



This is the beast that I drive
Me in the driver's seat lookin like a dork!

So the night wasn't very eventful, we had 5 arrests which is better than nothing but definetly not that great. They say with all of the sweeps sheriff joe has been doing, a lot of the illegals have fled back to Mexico....... which means less DUI's for us b/c about half of the drunks we get are Mexican and a lot of times illegal. But..... It's a good thing cuz they are off the road. We had a DUI come in at about 1:30am, who was at a BAC of .25 (.08 is legal limit) and was driving with 3 kids in his car. This guy was completely hammered, and it broke my heart that he had these kids in the car with him. They brought the kids to the van to wait while their dad got his blood drawn. It didn't bother the kids at all to see his dad getting hand-cuffed or anything which makes me think this is not uncommon for them. The guy couldn't even spell his daughter's name and didnt know her birthday. Sad....... He was released and an officer drove him and the kids back to their house. I think he should have gone to jail, but CPS would have had to take the kids and the cops decided it would be better for the kids to be at home rather than in cps custody. His car is towed for 30 days so he at least won't be able to drive drunk anytime soon. He was also charged on top of his DUI with child endangerment which will hopefully get him locked up for a longer amount of time once he goes to court. This is definetly the worst part of workin the van, you see firsthand how terrible some people live their lives and the bad decisions they make.

Another guy we had was pretty funny..... he came in with dried blood all over his lips and I almost vomitted when I saw it cuz it was so gross looking. It was like he had purple and black lipstick on, except it was blood. He tried to tell the cops that he was in a fight with his friend, but he didnt have any blood on his knuckles or anywhere else on his face, so they were like.. come on what really happened. Come to find out he was smoking crack out of a pipe and it exploded in his mouth. He obviously didn't have time to clean up before he was caught...... Don't do drugs, nothing good can come from it!

Those were the only 2 interesting people we saw on Friday, I drive again the 24th so maybe I'll have some more stories.

Oh yeah, I won a Kenny Chesney cd on 107.9 on saturday. haha they asked for the 8th caller and I called in and won! I was on the radio and sounded like a big dork but I don't care! haha it was funny... I always like to call him if I can because hey... u cant win if you don't call. This is the 2nd time i've won something on the radio. So people, call in! You just might win.

SO... I am about to finally get all my applications in, in case you are interested, here are a list of law schools I'm applying too. The ones at the top of the list are my top choices, the rest are in no particular order. I just pray I get into at least 1 school!!

ASU
U of Utah
UC - Irvine
U of Hawaii
California Western
Texas Tech Univ
Golden Gate Univ
U of Distric of Columbia
U of New Mexico
U of Idaho
Texas Southern Univ
.........and some others I can't remember off the top of my head

This seems like alot, but the more schools I apply to, the better chance I have of getting in and maybe having some choices as to where I end up! I'm a little discouraged at the $1000+ my apps are going to cost me, but as my boss reassures me its an investment that will pay u back imensely in the long run. It's kind of weird not knowing where I'm going to be one year from now, but it is also exciting. I'm ready to get out of here and experience something new. But of course I'll miss everyone and you will have to come visit.

Thats all......... I'm drivin the DUI van Friday night so I'll post anything interesting that happens!