Yo! Youth OutLook

Editor's Note: California Ballot Measure Prop. 6, on the ballot in November wants to lower the age of young people who can be charged as adults and other measures that would put younger people in jail. The best part: they want to take money away from education and health care to do so. Walter Lopez, 21, is a contributor to YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia.

The California state ballot initiative known as Proposition 6 would lock in some $1 billion annually all aimed at putting away younger and younger people. This prop –sponsored by Republican state senator George Runner and written by the author of the Three strikes law – proposes to take funding from our schools, hospitals and childcare centers in favor of convictions through prison programs which have previously resulted in failure, along with shiny new policing policies.

California already over-funds a punishment industry that has not produced safe communities, but has instead resulted in overcrowded prisons and an enormous state deficit. Senator Runner’s political stunt would result in even greater costs to the already anemic state budget, making the closure of schools, hospitals and fire stations much more likely. Amongst the problems with Runner’s proposition is the racially charged motivation behind it. The California Legislative Black Caucus’ incoming chairman has deemed it “racially loaded,” and with good reasoning.

Video: Christina Gomez of the Burns Institiute/The Community Justice Network for Youth (CJNY) on Prop. 6 and it's potential effects on California's young people.

Proposition 6 aims to put the most at risk people into more risk. Under this proposition, teenagers over the age of 14 who are “gang-related” will not be allowed trial under juvenile court nor will they be permitted into youth housing or even a youth prison. Youths who cannot watch a rated-R movie at the Metreon will be treated as adults for the first time in their lives.

If this law was in effect, half of the people I know (not figuratively, but literally) would not have had the opportunity to make something out of their lives. The low-end drug dealer that wanted to provide for his mother, the teenager who had no one to turned to and got lost in the streets, and even the kid who dove face first into the drug game – none of them would be the people they have evolved into.

I turned my life around from selling drugs and being in the streets, my friend is now into real estate after being shot at for affiliation, and my uncle is a walking testament to someone who made a change and wants to help young people with what he learned from his experiences as a gang banger.

Proposition 6 will also force those on public housing to take yearly criminal background checks in order to see if they have been convicted recently. If they have been convicted within the year, their housing subsidies will be revoked – the intention obviously being the latter, which in turn facilitates gentrification.

The other group that will be largely taxed by the proposition is the un-documented immigrant community. Bail would be denied to those charged with violent or “gang-related” crimes and the Immigration and Custom Enforcement would be informed immediately.

I have been accused of gang affiliation myself. I’ve never claimed a gang, nor did I parade around in the garments they outfit themselves in, but merely because I hung around in a pack. Would it be just to try a 15- or 16-year-old as an adult because he makes a mistake when he is with his friends? My friend “P” was involved in a scuffle with a group of people and he served about 8 months. Had this proposition passed, would he still be in there for “gang affiliation”?

On top of all this, Proposition 6 has shady funding. Henry Nicholas, of Orange County, is a billionaire and according to reports, he is currently being investigated for stock fraud and recently checked into a rehab center. He has donated $1 million to the Runner program and also funded the Three Strikes program. He is being indicted on 21 charges. How will HE be tried for this if it reaches trial?

The wealthy conservatives aren’t the only ones funding this faux war on crime. The California Association of Healthcare Underwriters PAC have also given money toward Proposition 6, because Senator Runner supported their stand against single-payer health care. However, the point has become moot because Senator Runner’s proposition would reduce the amount spent on health care by the state.

Among the disturbing effects that this proposition would have is the amount of schools that would become even more under-funded. The situation is fast becoming an epidemic, with the rates of drop out students escalating and the rate of graduates decreasing. If the proposition passes, this could open the gates to a massive failure on the educational side of the coin, and a large neglect infested crisis on the healthcare side.

Instead of helping the cause for the drug war in America, Proposition 6 may just muddle the mixture in this frenzy. To prevent this from happening, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland has kicked off the campaign to stifle two of Runner’s state propositions. The campaign is angled at fairness and the rights of the accused. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Barbara Lee openly oppose Runner’s initiative. The common man feels the same. When polled, 47 percent of people said they would cut funding for prisons, compared to a slight 5 percent who said they would cut funding from schools.

I dropped out of school, so I know the importance of an education. The fact that money can be pulled from our school systems is unnerving. The message being preached to the youth is not a good one. Education systems should not be taken from, instead it should be a focal point we pour our funds into so that teenagers don’t leave school. The concept of putting money into prisons and taking from schools is basically saying that prison is a better option as a venue for youth and our future than school is. This proposition, in all its glory, can be likened to having sex for virginity.

Related Media:

Beyond the Ballot: Young Men and Voting

Running from the Cops at the RNC

Youth Sound Off on Parents and Abortion

1 of 1