"Just Is" Isn't Justice
Fighting for Change in Georgia's Youth Laws

By Giovan Bazan | VOX Staff

Photo by Tracy Jackson and Octavia Fugerson | VOX Staff

Every night, teens like you and me go to sleep in a jail cell simply for running away from a broken home or abusive situation. Every day, teens are put into a foster care system that does not truly foster them with care. They aren’t allowed to make important decisions on their own. They have no way to speak up for themselves nor anyone to hear their testimonies. 

When a formerly detained teen was asked what he could do to create a change in the justice system, he responded: “You can’t change the justice system. We’re just teenagers; no one takes us seriously. The way the justice system is now, that’s how it’s always been, and that’s how it will always be. It just is!” 

The lives of countless youth are dictated by a juvenile justice system that is flawed and a code that is severely outdated. Up until recently, teens have been idly watching as their lives change for the worse either because they didn’t know how to speak out and demand change or they were unable to. 
Currently, the Georgia General Assembly is convening at the State Capitol, revising the laws that affect all of us teens. The Georgia Code’s Juvenile Court Provision (Juvenile Code) is a series of laws that governs how our state responds to minors and their families in cases of abuse, neglect, violations of criminal law by children and other circumstances requiring court intervention. The laws were enacted in 1971, long before any of us teens were ever born. 

Since August, we at VOX have been collecting stories from teens impacted by the Juvenile Code to show lawmakers why it needs to be changed. We’ve partnered with the Just Georgia Initiative, a coalition of community organizations and individuals committed to making Georgia’s justice and social service systems better for children and youth. Our mission is to project teen voices in order to show lawmakers what its truly like being affected by the code.

The Flaws

The Juvenile Code is confusing to the legal practitioners who use it on regular bases. Its not organized for ease of use and is hard to understand. What worked in 1971 doesn’t necessarily work effectively nowadays. As time changes, behaviors change. The methods imposed to correct the behaviors should evolve as we do. However, the Juvenile Code has remained consistent since its inception and only been modified to fix small problems as they arise. These temporary patches do nothing to correct the big picture. More importantly, the Code does not meet the needs of the juvenile courts, the legal practitioners who serve the courts or the families and juveniles affected by it. 

Every teen is different and their circumstances are unique to their situation. However, more often then not, a sentence is made based on a case’s face value. Many times, teens we spoke with said the judge simply looked at the information in their case files instead of trying to understand the motives behind their actions. And little to no effort is made to actually correct the juveniles’ behaviors.

For example, if a kid is having a behavioral problem, then the judge puts that kid on probation and sends the kid back home. Later, the same kid shows up back in court having continued with the same behavioral problems, so the judge sends the kid to a detention center. The kid is then exposed to and can be influenced by negative behaviors that are much more serious than the ones he or she originally displayed. So when the kid is finally released back into the same environment they came from, not only has he or she not learned how to correct the original behavioral problems but he or she is now having more disciplinary issues than before! Nothing more can be expected from that juvenile than to become a repeat offender. 

Had the court system spent a little more time looking into the reason for the kid’s behavior, then the court most likely would have discovered that there was more going on at home than what the court was actually hearing about. It is very rare that one acts out on his or her own accord. It is usually a reaction to someone else’s actions or provocation.

Our Obligation

The Juvenile Code doesn’t cater to the needs, and best interests of the juveniles whose lives are directly dictated by it. 

We at VOX have compiled over 25 teen testimonies and will present them to the legislators during the 2010 General Assembly. But there’s much more to do.

You can call or write your legislators and urge them to support revising the Juvenile Code. By sharing these stories and your own experiences with Juvenile Code, we can inspire change.

Giovan, 19, recently graduated Soutwest DeKalb High School and is going into the U.S. Army.

You can also email your story to justgeorgia@VoxRox.org.