It's time for Change...
Sometimes, you just have to go back and search
history to make sure we are not repeating ourselves with the same errors. Today, I looked up the article "Long-time Juvenile Court Judge Turner dies" online through the Commercial Appeal written by Lawrence Buser on Feb. 12, 2008. It refreshed me on the reign of his service.
Judge
Kenneth Turner presided over Juvenile Court for 42 years and literally built an
institution that has given us leadership from his reign for over a half of a
century. He took office in 1964. Then,
in 2006, his right hand man, Senator Curtis Person became our Juvenile Court Judge.
After, Judge Person retired at an
increased pension level from the County and one from the State of Tennessee Judge
Dan Michaels stepped forth.
By the way no one questioned whether it was ethical
for Person to sponsor many juvenile bills while he served as employee of the
Court. No one questioned whether Turner
was staying too long. No one questioned Judge
Turner missing work for almost the last year while he was on the bench. I am just asking for a little fairness. I know they are the “white dolls”, and we are
the “black dolls”. But after growing up,
I don’t believe the black doll is ugly, dumb, lazy, or irresponsible. I know we all have flaws and human frailties. I understand we all need compassion and a
bearing of the facts in an honest fashion. I know that regardless of color, sex, or station in life every human has value.The article credited Turner with guaranteeing underage criminal defendants the right to legal representation. But, the Department of Justice report that was pushed by Commissioner Henri Brooks and others suggests somehow that direction was lost. The investigation of the practices shows that children were not given counsel.
He prosecuted more than “150,000 deadbeat dads”. But, did it lead to more responsible
parenting? Was Juvenile Court a partner with other workforce development programs to help parents financially support their children? What parenting skills training did he order for both mother and father
facing these challenges? Did our Court order child support just financially and ignore that children need parents in their lives? (teacher/parent conferences, spending time with them) Did parents who paid through the system for their
children see most of that money as opposed to the State
of Tennessee who issued them AFDC? Was it necessary to outsource that task and add an administrative fee out of the
payment that went to a private contractor to administer rather than to the children?
As I continued to read the CA's article about the late Judge Kenneth Turner's 42 years, the records reflect that in 1990 the Memphis
Area Legal Services challenged procedures they used to collect child support. About
ten years later, Shelby County Government agreed to settle the lawsuit by
paying $5000 to each of the eight parents named in the lawsuit. Our government
has a way of not really working for its citizens when it drags its feet” to
settle lawsuits. The Government becomes
the bully throwing its money and powers to crush the citizen in the name of best public interests.
Turner even had a practice of unsealing a
court document of a juvenile when someone questioned the Court's decisions or
practices. I was speechless reading that
part of the story. I am not saying this regime did not render some good
work. Because, I believe they did some
good things, too. The voluntary
probation officers program to mentor children was good.
But are children being educated while being in
detention? Is there a library in the
facility? I sometimes tell the story of bringing Mrs. Shelia Whalum to speak to the girls
in detention and she brought a copy of her book for the girls to read. The next month during my next visit, I was told that there was a
fight over that book. I asked why and
was told they lacked reading material. I only saw a television in a corner of a
wall in the open space for the juveniles. (A Library is a project for Gale Jones Carson and I to take on after
Judge Sugarmon is elected.)
After reading this 2008 Commercial Appeal story, I
thought about the challenges we face in juvenile crime, how we live in a community of young parents as lost as some of their young, and some how parents are screaming for help. I thought about the many recommendations made by the Department of Justice and the leadership that is trying to change a culture within our Juvenile Justice System. As I thought about all of this, I was led to pray and the scripture about pouring new wine in old wineskins stayed on my mind.
Luke 5:36-39
[36] He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. [37] And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. [38] No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. [39] And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.' "
The new wine
represents Christianity, and the old skins, the Law of Moses. This way, he
foresaw that Christianity would function in a completely new organizational and
ritual structure, which would harmonize with the new teachings that he was
revealing to humankind.
Before wine bottles were invented, wine was stored in
wineskins made of animal hide or gut. If unfermented wine (new wine) was put
into a wineskin that had been previously used, the fermentation process would
burst the wineskin. So, when we compare the parable to the stories about the
Pharisees that precede and follow it we can see that what Jesus means is that
new ideas aren't compatible with old practices. In our modern vernacular (okay,
maybe not so modern) we might say, "You can't teach old dogs new
tricks."[1]
Jesus was saying saying that organized religious
structures are reticent to change with the times. This election, our
constitution gives us the opportunity to make a change and it is time.
After a century of this leadership, it is time for
change. After an investigation by our
Department of Justice that found a boatload of problems, it is time for
change. After, reading the defensive
remarks from Judge Dan Michaels about how he does trust federal government
telling us what to do in our system but he complied to move them out of the
County’s business, that old bottle cannot hold new wine.