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I was arrested when I was 15 but the police "lost" the report on the day of my trial and the case was dismissed. I got so lucky. This piece made me cry

I spent 32 months of my life from age 12 in a juvenile prison in Texas (TYC). The abuse was so rampant it was insane. I spent 276 days in Segregation at one point. My original sentence was 9 months but time kept getting added for self harming myself (yes you heard that right) I was finally released on a Mental Illness discharge. The horror stories I can tell you aren’t for the faint of heart. Would love to tell my experience to vice!

KIDS should absolutely NOT be kept in solitary confinement AT ALL , they should NOT be inside an adult jail AT ALL! Smfh

I know a man who went to Angola at 17. I need to tell him about this. The abuse he went through was so sick and twisted! Jack, this is for you! Cry as much as you need to. We love you Brother!

I had a first cousin got put in Angola very young. He got out 15 years ago, but he still carried too much of his year there with him every day. He took his own life less than 5 years after getting released. A few months before his death he told me every time he closed his eyes he was right back behind bars. We were raised in a time when you didn't talk about any mental problems you were facing. We were told to man tf up and deal with it. So he tried, he just didn't have the tools.

In 2012-13 I went to boot camp in Illinois for a non violent marijuana possession. It was a 4 month program that ended up taking 9 months of my life because of "Bed space". I ended up being at a reception center called Statesville which was supposed to be a 2 week hold, ended up being let know we were going to be held for atleast 120 days to get to bootcamp. Stateville is not for people to stay at for over a few weeks. It is a max security prison with a reception center. It is the same reception center for Chicago Illinois. I was in a solitary cell for 96 days of the 127 days I waited there. We were in the cells described above, 24 hour lock down, barely any food, and 1 shower a week. 96 days in solitary confinement for a 23 year old first time marijuana offender. This might be the first time i posted this anywhere, I really dont like to think about it. Its happening all over the country and has been for a long time. Thanks for your reporting.

As an employee for Utah's Juvenile Justice Youth Services I tell you this system is broken. Utah supposedly leads the way for how juvenile corrections should be done yet our system is crippled by the legislature. I hope one day we can fix this for the sake of our residents (aged between 14-25)

It's not just the people of Louisiana that know about the horror of this prison. I live in the UK, right out in the Dorset countryside and I've heard about this place. The American 'justice' system is inhumane.

I have seen a lot of young kids make one mistake and would be incarcerated instead being offered the proper help.They are turning these young ppl into monsters on purpose. They way they are treated should be considered crimes against humanity

10:00 - damn, this dude's out there literally saving lives - give him ALL the respect.

I spent time in juvie as a kid and I will say that now as a 29 year old adult. The things these grown men and women guards would do to us is just insane. They were more childish then the kids I was locked up with smh. I’m not saying some kids don’t deserve juvie but sending them to adult prison is outrageous. Here is Texas we have “prisons” for kids called TYC. Not the same as juvie it’s for more long term type sentences or repeat offenders. I’m not sure how I feel about any of it. Except maybe more supervision on guards who watch these kids in these facilities.

From the age of 3 until 18 I grew up in the NY system. All I knew was violence. By the Time I became an adult and went to real jail, I already had the experience to deal with it due to the multiple(50+) different group homes/residential centers/Juvie. The only way we knew how to show affection was to make someone bleed for the person. I knew my friend Derrick loved me because he stabbed a kid who was bullying me when I was 11. We didn’t show affection with hugs and that soft stuff. Only the strong survived and I’m glad to say that I’m a Home Health nurse now and I no longer hold on that pain from the system

Another reason I left Louisiana after 42 years and having grown up there. Prisons are a business in LA and they imprison more people in that state more than any rate in the world.

“A society should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens but by how it treats its criminals.” - Fyodore Dostoyevsky

We can pass laws to help keep kids out of solitary, yet like one of the kids said, "Who's actually there to observe? No one."

Imagine that being your last moments, being stuck with needles over and over again for 3 hours wondering each time if that's the one that's going to kill you, that is so terrible.

This is like a concentrating camp for kids. This is beyond insane. Putting kids in a super max prison is straight up cruel.

So in America, kids can’t legally drink alcohol or vote…but they can go to an adult prison? What’s the logic behind that?

Such an amazing idea! Thanks for doing this series.

I balled my eyes out “I wonder if they know my son is loved” because I’ve been here. That feeling of helplessness of utter fear for your child that this system looks at like an adult.

this is brilliant. i watch and read a lot about justice systems internationally. my father was a criminal defence lawyer and so was i. he is dead now and i have changed career but i still am interested in penal reform and justice. here in new zealand we have an unusually high rate of incarceration. particularly of maori people. it is wrong. and sad. this documentary is insightful, sensitive and very smart. it doesn't exploit or patronize. it is tender and wise. thank you.

Thank you for explaining and educating the world about such atrocities. Also we must give tangible efforts. Thank you.

Mind blowing!😳 Kid's brains aren't even fully developed until they're 25 yrs old. It's just awful ...the cruelty & racism in America! We need to keep calling for change from the top down!

i fucking hate the idea that this is only bad when it's kids. EVERYONE NEEDS HELP. it's bad to do this to ANYONE.

An excellent and powerful series! So many emotions drawn. I will make sure to share your series and spread the word get the message across. God bless!

Powerful stuff & my seeing my hometown of Richmond in there threw me for a whole loop. Great reporting

Be careful what you ask for. Mississippi use to have a prison for juveniles called Walnut Grove. It was the worst prison in the state until it was shut down. It turns out kids are much more violent when isolated like that

children should be removed from their violent surroundings, easiest way for them is to just lock you up instead of having programs to actually show how beautiful life can be thats usually all kids need. Most kids are are so ingrained in there neighborhoods and violence because thats literally all they know. All you have to do is send them somewhere peaceful around people that know how to deal with kids and be leaders. It should be a program thats further away from home so that kids realize theres more to life than a little neighborhood

I’m 24. Made stupid decisions. Had to register as a drug defender and did time for being pulled over with handguns even though I’m over 21 they hit me with a felony. I’m currently doing the rest of my time on ankle monitor and 2 years of felony probation. I have aspirations to join the military to turn my life around, these were my first offenses. I just hope I can get them dropped so I can truly better my life.

I was in solitude my entire formative years and it drove me insane. the things your mind will do to itself due to the lack of stimulation is something I never want any other kid to experience

“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” - Bryan Stevenson

Another great story from Vice.Keep up the good work!👏👏👍

19:49. I know this feeling as an adult, couldn't imagine as a teenager

Idiots, setting these kids up for failure but what do they care?! It’s more money for their system, never forget prison is a buisness

Another great piece by Vice news!! Thank you for shedding light on this topic

Amazing story hearing about his great grandfather learning to read and then reading newspapers so all the recently-freed.. inspiring to see the legacy being carried on through these education videos

Some of your best work yet. Outstanding documentary. Award worthy.

I had never heard of Bryan Stevenson before seeing this video, but he has an insightful analysis on our criminal justice system. It's built to create hardened criminals by not giving young offenders a second chance and sending them into downward spiral. Treating an individual, especially a minor, as a violent criminal for one mistake they made is absurd. Our "correctional" justice system does the exact opposite and turns them into the very thing we're trying to prevent.

excellent news job im so impressed with vice lately

Great work. Thank you.

Congratulations on the show brother!

This is a difficult matter. Crime in Louisiana is so rough, and the majority of crimes committed in Louisiana happen to be by juvenile men. No kid should have to held in solitary. But on the other hand, there’s little places to put these individuals, at Angola that’s the last stop it’s a death camp effectivel. There needs to be a plave for young individuals to recover and learn from their mistakes. But in Louisiana that’s just not possible. We have a terrible financial and expensive health system. So for now it’s just a limbo state for many. And with the rise in brutal crime it’s just going to raise the amount of people going to Angola.

This was most enlightening... Thank you... 🇿🇦

Many beautiful . Thank you for uploading a beautiful video

That last piece was beautiful. Really great video. We need change. Not soon, now.

I don't understand why the system wants to "break" our kids instead of wanting to teach them the right way or a better way. They are friggen KIDS for fuk sake!! Kids have to be taught things they don't "just know" how to be somebody, that's what us adults are for. Not all kids have great influences growing up and in that case we should want to help them and show them what they don't know. Showing them violence will only teach them violence...... DUH

Thanks for this video, every voice helps.

THIS! This is so important!!

I am so heartbroken to hear about the abusive, unfair treatment to the children who need help not increasing punishment or torture. There is an opportunity to visit this challenge and gather those who want to help.This is so serious and needs more exposure! Thank you for sharing this painful truth. May God provide justice through exposure and bring help to the crying hearts of the confined children.

Every person I grew up with that was put into institutions like this, came out changed for the worse.

Thanks!

Amazing!

I have watched the film with Michael B Jordan, and this was the 1st time I had heard of Bryan Stevenson, so it great to see him on here. He is a true humanitarian for his work.

Judges, prosecutors, pigs, and private prison owners are despicable. Louisiana gets charged 49K per inmate(at least it did 5-10 years ago). What is the average income in Louisiana! The corrupt politicians who enable this are subhuman.

Thank you for making this. St. Tammany Parish, here.

man, that essay was good

Kids are growing. I grew up hard and every kid I knew that got sent to the y or dys came out worse. Not better. It’s not a learning environment and growing experience it’s more of kids having to be even harder to survive or come out with more connections to kids that are going through similar things and end up linking up and hustling robbing stealing just to survive.

I teared up a lil bit. We gotta do more guys. To help younger people navigate through this world. If we don't the government is just going to keep making money off of lost souls

So important ❤

I work in a juvenile in California (mental health). Nowadays, CA only houses kids in JH for very serious offenses. more often than not, these kids have gotten multiple chances and present a clear danger to society (and themselves). Unfortunately, well-meaning activists and "reformers" have stripped probation from using disciplinary measures or enforcement of boundaries (i.e., no pepper spray, and no plastic handcuff) in the name of restorative justice. The result is the juvenile hall is out of control (assaults, drugs, property destruction). The intimates run the place. If you were to see the things that go on, you would think twice about the naiveties spewed in documentaries like this.

"Land of the free"... As a Canadian, I want to thank you for this Vice, it helps remind me to never move down south every winter ;)

I agree 💯 that no juvenile under 17 should be in prison. The youngest person put to death in 1944 , was 14 , for a crime he did not commit. Fact.

As someone who is training as a counselor, children need: secure attachment to a parental figure, encouragement and love, structure, and the room to express themselves and grow into well adjusted functional adults. Juvenile corrections strips basically all of these fundamental needs from children causing a wide range of attachment based emotional and behavioral issues that are incredibly difficult to solve and will require expensive professional help to treat as adults. I think one important question never asked by the courts is why is this criminal behavior happening and what supports can be given to families to mitigate that behavior. If we tackle these issues early with supports and counselling I believe we can help these children thrive and succeed instead of ensuring they become maladjusted socially and emotionally by incarcerating them.

thank you

I learned a lot about all of myself(s) in solitary. I also learned that I could do 2000 push-ups in 8 hrs.

Pain Ps Gratitude for sharing.

Right On

Incarceration should be about rehabilitation, not about punishment. We have already tried harsh punishment-style imprisonment, and it failed time and time again and continues to fail. It’s time we CHANGE THE SYSTEM.

Jim crow never ended, in fact, it got even worse

Thank you so much! That's all I know to say!

This is tragic to see kids treated as adults their are so many different options that local government could have chose to house and mentor those hurting children like a specialized camp with learning and fun things to do with trainer mentors that have grown through similar times but have prevailed to be able to relate to the youth. Their should be enough government funds to provide a experience like a privileged child spends their summers having fun and learning. Great journalism again

22:10 Then it sounds like we need to change “the world around them” that is telling them they need to act tougher than they are. Why do they feel they need to act so tough?

This series is AWESOME! Bryan Stevenson that man can talk very good. I gave up on America I moved out of the the country I'm so scared to go back. Best decision I ever made never had a problem but America now I teach high School in Cambodia.

Powerful.

Do a piece on how they got there in the first place or maybe I missed it

Why are these kids in this mess, are they doing their chors and homework? I mean I spent my days doing homework, chores, books and video games and sometimes I worked on weekends and I've never had a problem with the law.

The four scumbags that did horrendous things to that LSU student need to be in there for what they did to her. Even the 17yr old and even that lawyer defending them that said her being drugged meant she liked it.

No words to describe this horror

Always watching from Georgetown Guyana south America 🇬🇾🇬🇾🇬🇾🇬🇾🇬🇾

I love this so much. The US justice system is so broken. Just fuels the cycle of abuse and poverty that then fuels addiction and violence. The cycle goes on and on. All in the name of the mighty dollar.

There are 2 sides to every story and this report, as good as it is, tells only only side. I'd like to hear about the victims and how their lives may have been damaged or ruined by the crimes committed against them.

The ways this country treats its most vulnerable has become something everyone is indifferent to. The way these children are treated in these prisons would have them removed from their homes on the outside but it’s somehow okay to place them in an abusive environment if it’s in the name of ‘Justice’.

"Why is this 20 year old telling me he spent over 3 decades in prison? That doesn't make sense!"

Such a necessary report. Thank you! I hope we can free ourselves from this punitive mindset that only hurt us and other and do not solve our social problems

This is crazy

a lot tougher than kids really are.

real talk

I thought they were talking about Angola the country.....

I suffered through solitary confinment for over 60 days.

I worked in the Louisiana department of corrections in an adult prison for 12 years.. Years back we were sent to tallulah juvenile detention center to help get the place under control.. It was wild , these kid's were climbing on top of the housing units , fighting the guards , fighting each other..And believe me they were having fights everyday..They would bring ice chests full of ice so they could have something cold to drink whenever they wanted ..And we had to go in the dorm and confiscate the ice chest from the dominant group in the dorm that were strong arming the other kids and selling the ice..The juvenile justice system doesn't work here because not every kid is the same some of these kids were small normal kids and some were older and as big as an adult some were very big ..Theres no separation in the juvenile system.They should be seperated by age , physicality , seriousness of crime . There should be facilities for less aggressive juveniles and a higher security facility for more aggressive juveniles..The classification process should be more discriminate in the classification of incarcerated juveniles..in which type of facility they should be sent to.But Louisiana will not spend the money on building the facilities needed to achieve this there needs to be teaching at these facilities to teach them how to behave and be adults.In short they need parenting..Some of these kids are horrible and extremely violent though and the truth is some of them dont care and never will..But some can be saved to.

I can’t help but think this was supposed to be a Michael Kenneth Williams piece RIP to the legend 🙏

I have a first cousin that’s serving 16 years in Angola for bank fraud for millions of dollars and I talk ti him a couple times a week and tells me he’s been seeing kids come thru there 16 years old and up and it’s rare to see a white kid come thru there , it’s almost damn near 90+ % of the time it’s a black kid and pretty much always gang related gun violence and and drug possession.

What the guy said during the last 30 second of this video left me questioning what am I supposed to do or feel in a similar situation? Yes, many people do get nervous and cross the street when approaching a group of teens that are causing a scene or appear potentially dangerous. For him to imply that doing so is somehow racist or stereotyping is not necessarily true, after all he himself committed a violent crime as a teenager and knows better than anyone what kids are capable of, and the only way not to become a victim is to stay aware of your surroundings and avoid potentially dangerous situations.

How are people like Bryan Stevenson not the norm in the US. I can’t imagine how tbis country has so many children in prison!

I did 20 phukin years!! -phil leotardo

And there is a lot of child abuse

15:36 This part!!! Everyone involved in this violence is impacted!

Need to get all those state elective officials out of office

I don't know who needs to hear this but stop saving all your money. Venture into Investing some, if you really want financial freedom.