It is seldom that I have seen articles or stories written as firsthand accounts of the consequences of mandatory sentences that mix youthful offenders in the same prisons with hardened criminals. Then throw them into a prison with a poorly staffed supervison.
This is a story that comes from across the Atlantic but is replication in the US in every state of the nation. The lessons learned from youthful offenders are carried from the prisons to the streets and homes that go to. Be it in the homes of origin or the ones they create on release.
Then these lessons become a part of the families they raise. Don’t know how many times I have seen mothers and daughters serving time in the same facility. On one occasion, I saw three generations in the same prison. Then again, have known more than one incident where whole families have been in prison at the same time either for one crime or assorted crimes. ‘I broke the law and paid the price. But what I learned in prison fills me with dread if the rioters rampage again’
