Close-up on juvenile justice (Obama & Ayers - after age 7)

University of Chicago Chronicle ^ | 11/6/97 | Jennifer Vanasco

[wilco200]

Children who kill are called "super predators," "people with no conscience," "feral pre-social beings" -- and "adults."

William Ayers, author of A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court (Beacon Press, 1997), says "We should call a child a child. A 13-year-old who picks up a gun isn't suddenly an adult. We have to ask other questions: How did he get the gun? Where did it come from?"

Ayers, who spent a year observing the Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago, is one of four panelists who will speak on juvenile justice at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, in the C-Shop. The panel, which marks the 100th anniversary of the juvenile justice system in the United States, is part of the Community Service Center's monthly discussion series on issues affecting the city of Chicago. The event is free and open to the public.

Ayers will be joined by Sen. Barack Obama, Senior Lecturer in the Law School, who is working to combat legislation that would put more juvenile offenders into the adult system; Randolph Stone, Director of the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic; Alex Correa, a reformed juvenile offender who spent seven years in Cook County Temporary Detention Center; Frank Tobin, a former priest and teacher at the Detention Center who helped Correa; and Willy Baldwin, who grew up in public housing and is currently a teacher at the Detention Center.

The juvenile justice system was founded by Chicago reformer Jane Addams, who advocated the establishment of a separate court system for children which would act like a "kind and just parent" for children in crisis.

One hundred years later, the system is "overcrowded, under-funded, over-centralized and racist," Ayers said.

Michelle Obama, Associate Dean of Student Services and Director of the University Community Service Center, hopes bringing issues like this to campus will open a dialogue between members of the University community and the broader community.

"Students and faculty explore these issues in the classroom, but it is an internal conversation," Obama said. "We know that issues like juvenile justice impact the city of Chicago, this nation and -- directly or indirectly -- this campus. This panel gives students a chance to hear about the juvenile justice system not only on a theoretical level, but from the people who have experienced it."

[wilco200]

Even Michelle pipes in

[Westbrook]

Why isn’t this creep still in stir for sedition, treason, attempted murder, and destruction of public property?

[Always Right]

Why isn’t this creep still in stir for sedition, treason, attempted murder, and destruction of public property?

Because terrorism is acceptable behavior for college professors.

[tobyhill]

***Ayers will be joined by Sen. Barack Obama, Senior Lecturer in the Law School, who is working to combat legislation that would put more juvenile offenders into the adult system***

This is good stuff. Obama needs to explain why a 17 year old that kills a family of 4 shouldn't be tried as an adult?

[End Times Sentinel]

Ayers puts their stories into historical context; argues passionately about the roles of media, poverty, and neglect; refutes the idea of teenager as "superpredator"; and challenges parents--all of us--to ask the question, "Is this good enough for my child?"

http://www.amazon.com/Kind-Just-Parent-William-Ayers/dp/0807044032

Hmmm... it's everyone's fault but the guilty. Coming from a liberal? Imagine that.

Owl_Eagle

If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.

[Williams]

Has nothing to do with age 7. Obama was an adult seeking a political career. I have no public career, am not afraid to talk to people, but I would feel wrong befriending a former Pentagon bomber.

[visualops]

Cozy little bunch weren’t they.

[Misschuck]

>One hundred years later, the system is “overcrowded, under-funded, over-centralized and racist,” Ayers said<

He could give the program some of that 160 million Annenberg money he and Obama were using to pay off politicians.

[weegee]

William Ayers, author of A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court (Beacon Press, 1997), says "We should call a child a child. A 13-year-old who picks up a gun isn't suddenly an adult. We have to ask other questions: How did he get the gun? Where did it come from?"

Where did the Marxist pro-North Vietnamese radical get the bombs? Where did he get the safehouses? How does he now received taxpayer money to "teach" and indoctrinate?

[WarEagle]

Michelle Obama, Associate Dean of Student Services and Director of the University Community Service Center, hopes bringing issues like this to campus will open a dialogue between members of the University community and the broader community.

Is it just me, or does anybody else see Hilary Clinton and Jim McDougal and Rose Law Firm and directorships in WalMart and TCBY here?

What in Michelle Obama's background qualifies her as an Associate Dean and Director of the University Community Service Center, other than being Barack's wife?

Sounds like a convenient way to put big bucks in the Obamas' pockets.