Has school destroyed your creativity and self-confidence? I'm working on a book called Recovering From School, to help you heal the damage caused. Join the Patreon or Newsletter to be notified about updates. Paid Patreon members will get early draft previews, as well as a free digital copy when it's done.

Juvenile center lawsuit filed

Lauderdale County officials are guilty of unconstitutional abuses at the county Juvenile Detention Center, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges.

"Staff frequently spray children in the face with a substance that causes an excruciating burning sensation on the skin and in the eyes and restricts the youth's ability to breathe," said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Meridian. "Children are subject to this punishment for minor infractions such as 'talking too much.' "

Disability Rights Mississippi, a Mississippi nonprofit organization formed to protect the rights of the physically and mentally disabled, filed the lawsuit.

Meridian lawyer Lee Thaggard, who represents the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors, would not discuss the lawsuit, saying, "We're not going to litigate this in the press."

The board is responsible for overseeing the center.

The lawsuit, which represents one side of a legal argument, accuses officials of locking up minors with mental illness for 23 hours a day in the 30-bed Juvenile Detention Center, which holds juveniles aged 13 to 17 on anything from being a chronic runaway to serious charges, such as arson.

The lawsuit also accuses county officials of denying the juveniles access to mental health care and other medical care.

According to the lawsuit, the center's director has previously estimated that 60 percent of the children kept at the center require mental health services.

The lawsuit alleges that children are being denied access to education.

The litigation is seeking a preliminary injunction that would give Disability Rights Mississippi access to the facility to check on it and the children there as well as the records.

"We hope we can reach a collaborative agreement with the county," said Vanessa Carroll, a lawyer with the Mississippi Youth Justice Project. "We're disappointed we had to file a lawsuit."

In recent years, "the grand jury reports have condemned the county for leaving it in deplorable conditions," she said. "They've tried to make some improvements."

She said she's hoping officials will look to reinvest in youth in Lauderdale County "instead of locking them up and keeping them out of school."

In a news conference Monday, a Meridian minor, who spent time recently in the center, said, "We only got out for a shower, put on some deodorant, then back in the cell. There is barely any school. There are no activities in there."

Going to the center takes time away from school "and then you fall behind," the Meridian youth said.

The center needs to have some kind of activities, he said. "You need something like a basketball court that you can use and not just sit there all day.

"Being in the juvenile center makes you feel horrible. It's depressing. You're really locked up like the worst criminal when you aren't one - you just may have made a mistake. When you get in that mindset and you don't know how long you're going to be there because no one is telling you - that feels horrible. It makes you feel like an animal because you're in a cage all day."

Meridian needs more opportunities and more job development programs for young people, he said. "We definitely don't need to be caged up and forgotten."

Source

Posted in: News on October 27, 2009 @ 8:05 PM

Tags: Youth Rights

If you like what we're doing here, you can become a Patron and sign up for our newsletter!