Burning Down The House : The End Of Juvenile Prison (9781595589668) - Plot & Excerpts
It wasn’t even possible that Monday should come, when at least I’d get a walk up the stairs. The clock was not made that would pass the time between now and Monday. It was like what we were told about the last day, “Time is, time was, time is no more.” And Jesus Christ, even now, I was only locked up ten minutes. —Brendan Behan, Borstal Boy On the day of our arrival to Oakley, we observed a 13-year-old boy sitting in a restraint chair near the Ironwood control room. Reportedly, he was placed in the restraint chair to prevent self-mutilation. No staff approached him, and he was not allowed to attend school or receive programming, counseling, or medication. This boy had been severely sexually and physically abused by family members . . . prior to being sent to Ironwood. Just before our arrival, he had been locked naked in his empty cell. His cell smelled of urine, and we observed torn pieces of toilet paper on the concrete floor that he had been using as a pillow. —Findings letter, Department of Justice Investigation of Oakley and Columbia Training Schools in Raymond and Columbia, Mississippi, June 19, 2003 THE PLACES WHERE YOUNG people are confined in the United States operate under any number of euphemistic titles, each as soothing as it is implausible: guidance center, boys school, youth ranch, camp.
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