Mahony Leads Protest Against Youth Crime Initiative

Surrounded by a crowd of concerned mothers, clergy and Catholic school students, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles, Wednesday urged Californians to vote against Proposition 21, the juvenile crime initiative.

The initiative on the March 7 statewide ballot, sponsored by former Gov. Pete Wilson and supported by several law enforcement groups, proposes changes in the prosecution, sentencing and incarceration of juvenile offenders. In an attempt to crack down on juvenile crime and gang violence, the measure would transfer power from judges to prosecutors in deciding where and how cases are tried. It would also allow defendants as young as 14 to be prosecuted as adults for violent crimes.

At a rally held outside Dolores Mission Catholic School in Boyle Heights, about 150 protesters and Roman Catholic clergy gathered wearing T-shirts that read, “Schools, not jails.” Students from Dolores Mission and nearby Bishop Mora Salesian High School waved signs saying, “Schoolmates, not cellmates” and “I am 14, don’t throw me into the adult system.”

Denouncing the legislation as a political ploy by prosecutors, Mahony said the California Catholic Conference of Bishops had voted to oppose the proposition. Funds would be better spent on prevention, counseling and rehabilitation programs, he added.

“Children sent through the adult system, where there are minimal opportunities for rehabilitation and where their physical and emotional survival is constantly being threatened, are destined to come out of prison as hardened criminals,” he said.

The main supporters of Proposition 21 are the California District Attorneys Assn. and the California Assn. of Sheriffs. Responding to Mahony’s opposition, Matt Ross, campaign manager for Proposition 21, asserted that the measure is “a very important element in curbing gang violence and juvenile crime.”

Riverside County Dist. Atty. Grover Trask, president of the California District Attorneys Assn., added that the number of juveniles effected by the legislation would be relatively small.

“This makes juveniles more accountable. We’re not talking about a large number of juveniles; we’re talking about those committing rape and murder,” Trask said.

Mahony is the first major religious leader in the state to express his opposition to the juvenile crime initiative. But Dan Macallair, associate director of the San Francisco-based Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, believes opposition by the Roman Catholic Church will lead others to publicly oppose the measure.

Opponents of the initiative say it will unfairly target minority youth. Macallair said they already are three times more likely to be transferred to adult court and eight times more likely to be sentenced to adult prisons.

“It’s a draconian piece of legislation that imperils California because it targets our kids,” Macallair said. “The juvenile justice system already weighs heaviest against minority children. More and more, ‘gang’ is becoming a politically charged code word for black and Latino kids.”

In addition to the Catholic bishops, the California Teachers Assn., the Los Angeles City Council, the Los Angeles County Bar Assn. and the Chief Probation Officers of California have gone on record against the initiative.

Father Michael Kennedy, pastor of Dolores Mission Church, said opposing the initiative was a moral decision consistent with the church’s teaching on the basic rights of an individual.

“This law is more devious than it seems,” he said. “It closes the door for youth to be reformed. That’s inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus and the encyclicals of the pope which speak of compassion.”

Mahony said he agreed that youths who commit violent and heinous crimes should be incarcerated. But, he said, the question is what system best serves youth. Studies show that children sent to the adult system are more likely to be sexually assaulted, are more vulnerable to other types of physical abuse, and are at greater risk of committing suicide, Mahony said.

“My fear is that this proposition is motivated by vengeance against anyone who commits a crime,” Mahony said. “In 2004, we’ll be going after 12-year-olds, then 10-year-olds. Where does it end?”

Parents like Alba Martinez, whose 13-year-old son, Wilson, attends Dolores Mission, questioned why funds spent on prison and prosecutions could not be diverted to build more schools in low-income neighborhoods.

“We need more schools, more community centers. We need places where kids can go so they don’t wind up on the streets,” she said.