All language subtitles for Last.Week.Tonight.with.John.Oliver.S12E15.1080p.WEB-DL-[Feranki1980]

Oh.

It has been a busy week. Israel attacked
Iran, setting off a conflict that's

escalating as we speak.

RFK replaced the CDC's vaccine policy
advisors. The Pope wore a white socks

And in Tennessee, there was this major
story.

This morning, a zebra on the run and in
the air. After more than a week on the

loose in Tennessee, Ed the zebra was
finally caught.

Ed has been causing chaos and confusion
in Rutherford County since May 31st.

Oh, no!

But after eight days on the lam,
officials finally managed to catch the

equine. Deputies quickly hoisted Ed into
the helicopter harness before

transporting him to a nearby animal
trailer.

Okay, there is a lot to love there. My
only note is that when you show footage

of the world's chillest zebra looking
bored in a flying hammock, you don't...

Call that being hoisted in a helicopter
harness. You call that what it is. Last

week tonight, bait. And in case it
wasn't clear, you got me. Because look

right now. I'm squawking zebra news at
you and Disney isn't even paying me to

it. And look, I'd love nothing more than
to spend the rest of the night

exploring questions like, is this how
animals are transported now?

Getting hoisted like an adorable
shipping container while, and this is

remaining upright like they're sitting
in a little chair?

But unfortunately, we have to move on to
a story that dominated this week, the

protests against ICE enforcement raids.
You undoubtedly know, last weekend, ICE

conducted sweeping raids across the
country as part of an escalation ordered

Stephen Miller, a man who, despite all
photographic evidence, is somehow still

in his 30s.

Reportedly told ICE officials to just go
out there and arrest illegal aliens,

suggesting they target Home Depot's or 7
-Eleven convenience stores. So, that's

what happened, and from the start, it
was a mess, resulting in things like

in LA.

We have obtained citizen app video from
this morning showing multiple people

getting detained by Homeland Security.

It's still unclear how many people were
detained and for what reason. The man

says, my friend started yelling, ice,
ice, ice. I thought he was joking, but

wasn't. Then I saw all the day labor
starting to run.

That is awful. Someone yelling, ice.

It's almost never going to be a positive
thing. Best case scenario, you somehow

time -traveled back to 2014 and have to
do an ice bucket challenge, something,

by the way, that this guy did because he
was nominated by, and this is true,

Mike Tyson, Vince McMahon, and Homer
Simpson.

It was a simpler time.

In response to a race like that, LA saw
days of escalating protest as community

members rallied around their neighbours,
something that Trump seized upon as an

opportunity to do this.

I've deployed thousands of National
Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to

protect federal law enforcement from the
attacks of a vicious and violent mob.

And some of the radical left, they say,
oh, that's not nice. Well, if we didn't

do it, there wouldn't be a Los Angeles.
It'd be burning today, just like the

houses were burning a number of months
ago.

OK, I know I'm not saying anything new
right now, but he is such a dick.

There is just no reason.

because it's still very much on people's
minds in LA. For the same reason, you

shouldn't open a toast at a retirement
party with, wow, only milestone left

after this is death. Yeah, everyone
knows that and we're all trying not to

about it.

Also, it is just so obvious when he
stops reading and starts ad -libbing as

tone of his voice just completely
changes. I honestly wonder if his speech

is even right to in now. If there are
places where his teleprompter just says,

do a bitchy little bang.

A president... Sending in the National
Guard without the approval of a state's

governor hasn't happened since 1965.

And it wasn't just Gavin Newsom who
opposed it. The LAPD chief even said

nowhere near a level where we'd need to
be reaching out to the governor for

National Guard at this stage. And for
good reason. Because despite a lot of

sensationalist news coverage, all of
this was well within the city's control.

While scenes like this are being
broadcast prominently around the world,

some context.

It's all happening in a small part of
downtown L .A., at and around City Hall

and the Federal Building, where
detainees from ICE raids have been taken

few blocks in a county of nearly 10
million people.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tells us
the extra help is not welcome. When it

comes to the National Guard.

You say they're underutilized or just
not working.

I'm saying there's nothing for them to
do.

Right. And why would you send troops if
there is nothing for them to do? You're

just going to have 4 ,000 soldiers
wandering around L .A., swinging by the

Hollywood Walk of Fame to go, oh,
Christian Slater.

OK.

Now, there was some sporadic vandalism
and rock throwing and some Waymo cars

were set on fire, but those were
isolated incidents not at all

the protest as a whole.

not saying that those aren't striking
visuals.

I'm just saying, setting a driverless
car on fire is not the same thing as

assaulting someone, unless we're somehow
living in the Pixar Cars universe,

where burning one is murder, and you'd
be condemned to hell by the car pope, a

real character from Cars 2, by the way,
implying there's car Catholicism, car

Jesus, and presumably a decades -long
car cover -up of car sexual abuse.

As for the people of LA, they seem
pretty unfazed with one writer saying, I

the collateral damage ranks right above
a typical Dodgers World Series win.

And that sounds about right, especially
considering when the Dodgers won last

year, fans literally burned a city bus.

So the federal response felt completely
over the top, especially when you

consider troops will apparently be there
for 60 days at a cost to taxpayers of

roughly $134 million.

And usually, when that much is spent on
something completely pointless, we at

least get to see one of the Avengers in
it.

Honestly, much of the violence and
unrest we've seen in LA actually came

the authorities.

There have been multiple incidents of
police abusing protesters, members of

press. were also assaulted, and at one
point Senator Alex Padilla was even

forced to the ground and cuffed when he
tried asking Kristi Noem a question at a

press conference. And the fact that
supposed peacekeepers were escalating

situation led to ironies like when Trump
posted, arrest the people in face masks

now, and what do these people have to
hide and why?

Which is pretty hard to take, given many
of those in masks were ICE agents

themselves.

Something Trump borders our Tom Homan
justified, saying they're trying to

protect themselves.

And honestly, at this point, the only
immigration official that I really want

see wearing a mask is Tom Homan. And not
even to protect his identity, just so

that I don't have to look at his fucking
face anymore.

He looks like Homer Simpson photoshopped
as a real person.

He looks like someone tried to carve
Andre Agassi's head into a bar of soap.

He looks like baby Harvey Weinstein.

Look, protesters this week, showed
admirable restraint. In fact, just watch

guy respond to getting tear gassed with
an almost annoying degree of L .A.

chill. You told me you got caught up in
the tear gas as well. Describe what

happened to you.

Oh, just tasted a little tear gas.

Tasted like fascism.

Has there ever been anyone more Los
Angeles than that man?

snarky attitude, sunglasses at night,
beanie and sweatshirt in June, and a

perfectly timed look to camera, all
while looking like Travis Barker's

And look, who knows where all this is
going. We're taping on Saturday during

Trump's big military parade in D .C.
with mass demonstrations happening all

the country. So a lot could happen
between now and when you see this.

What I do feel comfortable saying is
that when everyone was warning about a

slippery slope to authoritarianism under
Trump, this is it.

Because masked government agents
grabbing people off the streets and

them without due process is
authoritarianism.

Sending in the military to crack down on
protests against those actions is

authoritarianism. And the good news is,
polls show there is mounting public

outrage over all this, as did the
hundreds of thousands of people in the

this weekend. Even in Minnesota, where
two state lawmakers were tragically shot

on Saturday, where authorities suggested
it would be safer if protesters stayed

away.

People showed up in large numbers
anyway, which is honestly the sort of

that gives me real hope.

We're living through a time in American
history that will be remembered for acts

of incredible cruelty.

But I hope it will also be remembered
for acts of courage and defiance. Think

this administration like a loose zebra
in the suburbs.

It shouldn't be there. It makes you
shout, oh no, a lot.

But maybe if we all work hard enough, we
can contain it until the glorious day

we get to watch it fly off into the
fucking sunset.

And now, this.

And now, dads on local TV discuss what
they really want for Father's Day.

What do you want for Father's Day?

Another tie.

Another tie.

Some socks.

What are the other cliche things?

Something from Yeti? A cooler? That'd be
great.

I hope my family's watching. Maybe a
special outing, maybe a gift card. Hint,

hint. Like, I can get my mom a spa gift
card.

Done. That's a spa day for her. I can't
get you guys that.

Why not?

You want to go to the spa?

I'll go hang out in the spa.

What do you want for Father's Day,
Charles?

A break from working in the yard. That's
all I'm asking.

Just something basic. I just want to
sit.

Leave me alone.

Just leave me with the game.

It's going to be a great game.

Then later on that night, my wife will
give me finally my Father's Day.

You know what y 'all do for Father's
Day.

I mean, this is the nightcap. I need you
to expand a little bit.

Well, typically, the little blowjobs you
get, they become not as well

over the years. Over the years. They
kind of fall off. Yeah. You get maybe

year. Yeah. Then for Father's Day or
your birthday,

You'll get a flashback, because she'll
give you a flashback on those days. Then

for the rest of the year, you suffer.

Moving on. Our main story tonight
concerns kids.

You know, idiots.

They don't know important adult skills
like how to do taxes or have regrets,

which is why, for years now, local news
has been full of dumb teen trends like

these. They're apparently bringing back
the Kool -Aid Man TikTok challenge that

first started during the pandemic.

Oh, no. If you don't remember, it's when
teens mimic the commercial, pretending

to be the Kool -Aid Man, saying, oh,
yeah, and then bursting through walls

fences. There's another popular dare
called the Kylie Jenner Challenge, where

teens put their lips in shot glasses.
They suck all the air out. It's called

Banana Peel Challenge. The challenge may
seem harmless at first, but doctors say

it could really lead. to serious
injuries.

This TikToker drank nothing but food
coloring for 11 days just to see what

happen. You may notice my skin is
turning blue.

It should come as no surprise that
trying to turn yourself blue is not a

idea. Look, as far as experiments go,
drinking nothing but blue probably isn't

going to win a Nobel Prize, which is
just as well because we then have to

a TikTok called I ate my Nobel Prize
just to see what would happen.

The point is, young people can do a lot
of dumb shit, and that can sometimes

lead to them getting in trouble with the
law, something definitively covered by

everyone's favourite character, Pants
Bear.

Pants Bear, where did you get the candy
from?

I don't remember seeing that earlier.

I forgot I got it from the candy aisle.

But did we pay for it?

Pants Bear, you cannot simply take
products from the supermarket.

That's stealing. I didn't mean to steal
it.

Ah!

Help!

Oh, no!

Oh, no!

For those unfamiliar, that is Pants
Bear, a bear who, and this is true,

pants. And so we alike about the
Microsoft Paint quality of the

clip falls under my single favourite
genre of entertainment, British bears

castral punishment, so...

It was always going to be a 10 out of 10
from me.

But the thing is, in the US, a kid
ending up behind bars for accidentally

pocketing a candy bar actually isn't
that much of a stretch. And that is what

our story is about tonight, our juvenile
justice system. We've occasionally

touched on it before. You may remember
in our school police story, we talked

about kids winding up arrested for
crimes like throwing skittles or having

tantrum. That's just one of the many
ways.

for kids to fall into this system. And
while it's true that some have committed

serious crimes, far more often they're
in trouble for things like vandalism,

theft, or even so -called status
offences like truancy or underage

Basically crimes that are only crimes if
you are a kid.

You may have even seen stories like the
one about the six -year -old who went to

court for picking a tulip from a yard at
his bus stop. The point is, our

juvenile courts are busy.

In 2022, the most recent year for which
state is available, they heard just over

600 ,000 cases. That same year, over 130
,000 kids were detained ahead of

judgment, with an additional 38 ,000
locked up as a result of judge's orders.

The US actually incarcerates youth at
many times the rate of other nations.

That's from the Global Study on Children
Deprived of Liberty, which is not a

study you want to be on the leaderboard
of.

It's like hearing a urologist say,
single weirdest one I've ever seen.

How ashamed we should be. It's a topping
the weird dicks list level of shame.

And while we occasionally get glimpses
of this system, it tends to be

opaque. Juvenile court hearings are
often closed to members of the public,

does make sense in a way. It's important
to protect kids' privacy, but in

practice, that creates a dangerous lack
of accountability for the adult in

charge. Because the truth is, our
juvenile justice system has many of the

of our adult one, except the people
running it have even more power.

And the damage it can do is even longer
lasting. So tonight, we're going to take

a longer than usual look at two things.
Our juvenile justice system and the

facilities it can far too often funnel
kids into. And let's start with

that might seem obvious, but is still
worth stating.

Kids are not, in fact, tiny adults.

They are, and this is true, kids.

And research shows that in figuring out
who they are and how they want to behave

in life, kids often engage in
exploratory, risk -taking behaviors that

assess social, personal, and familial
boundaries. Or, to put it another way...

Part of adolescence is testing the
limits, and part of adolescence is not

the brain functioning to understand,
gee, if I do that, it's going to get me

trouble. Right.

Kids are good at testing limits and bad
at weighing consequences. Sort of like a

puppy or a pre -Iron Man Robert Downey
Jr.

And we've long understood that kids need
a system that takes their still

-developing minds into account. It's
part of the reason why a separate court

process was created for them back in
1899.

And just watch this 1940s film, Boy in
Court, which tells the story of a 15

-year -old boy who helps steal a car.

Johnny and 200 ,000 other youngsters who
are arrested each year are America's

number one crime problem.

Can't something be done to help these
twisted young lives and set them

Yes, something can be done. Something is
being done.

Many communities believe that good
juvenile courts with well -organized

probation service can make good citizens
out of wayward youth.

Fortunately...

Johnny lives in a community which has
such a court.

Yes, luckily, Johnny lives in a
community with a juvenile court, as

the other kind of community where
wayward children are sent into, the

No judgments, both are good options,
whether you're talking about

or the maze.

In that film, Johnny gets sent to
probation, and his probation officer

him toward youth sports. It's a process
that all culminates in this happy scene.

Well, Johnny...

Mr. Benton tells me you don't need
probation anymore.

You've made good.

I guess you won't steal any more
automobiles, will you?

See, that was dumb, wasn't it?

It certainly was.

Well, that is nice, although is that...
A kid actually reformed? Hair flicked

back, sharp suit. He may have just been
upgraded to a higher class of crime.

Stealing cars was a fool's game, Your
Honour. I won't do that again, or my

isn't Little Bernard Madoff.

But obviously, court never works that
way for everyone and definitely doesn't

for many kids today. One investigation
into this system has likened it to

Plinko, the Price is Right game, where a
chip can fall any number of ways

depending on what it hits on the way
down. And that is basically true here.

At every stage, factors beyond the kids'
control can propel them to vastly

different outcomes. And unfortunately,
many kids have no idea how to navigate

this system or even what their basic
rights are.

For instance, if a young person is being
interrogated by police, research shows

they waive their Miranda rights at
extremely high rates, as high as 90%,

not understand the consequences of that.
Take this woman who was...

arrested at 15 years old and unknowingly
signed away her rights to an attorney.

She ended up getting sent to a youth
facility where she met another kid who'd

been through the same court that she had
and they realized they'd both been

denied something pretty important.

I said to my friend, I said, man, did
you have like a lawyer?

And she was like, no, nobody has
lawyers.

And I was like, but haven't you seen Law
and Order? Like, everybody has lawyers.

Like, you're supposed to have a lawyer.
Like, that's what, if you don't have a

lawyer, you get one assigned to you.
Like, isn't that the, and she was like,

guess it doesn't work that way for kids.

That is ridiculous.

Every kid in court should at least have
access to the stuff they have on Law and

Order. Which, as we all know, is a
lawyer, two quippy detectives, a guy

loosely connected to the case but played
by a suspiciously high -profile guest

star so you know that they did it, a
dead body being played by a Tisch

getting their big break, and, as always,
an abrupt smash cut to the name...

Exactly. You know, the usual.

Now, without access to an attorney, she
ended up being sentenced to three months

in a youth facility with six months
probation.

all for the crime of harassment, which
incredibly consisted entirely of making

this MySpace page mocking her school's
vice -principal.

And if you're wondering how on earth a
kid wound up getting locked up over

it's because the judge decided that he
should be. That is the whole reason.

Because in most cases, when a kid goes
to trial, there is no jury, meaning the

judge has sole discretion in deciding
the fate of that child. And to be fair,

some use that power judicially to
dismiss or divert.

which can take many forms, including
writing an apology letter, doing

service, or participating in
counselling, or treatment for substance

judges can also go the other way,
placing kids in a youth facility, or

kicking their case up to adult court. We
do that for over 50 ,000 kids a year,

which is actually down from its peak of
250 ,000 in the mid -90s, when there was

a lot of bullshit fear -mongering about
so -called teenage super predators.

Back then, sending kids to adult court
was actually a popular campaign promise

for judges like this guy.

As judge, if given the opportunity to
try a juvenile offender as an adult, I

will. If you're a teen and convicted of
murder, rape, or violent crimes against

our children or the elderly, you can
expect that I will impose the maximum

sentence allowed by law.

Mark Chivarella, a judge to protect all
of us.

Okay, I have a lot of questions there,
starting with, what on earth is he

walking in front of?

That certainly doesn't scream I'm a
noble warden of justice as much as my

homemade ninja warrior training course
fell down.

So this is my backup career plan.

Chivarella was the judge who sentenced
that girl to three months behind bars

over a MySpace page, and she wasn't
alone.

Over a five -year period, he and another
judge routinely committed juveniles to

two private detention centres, in many
cases giving out lengthy sentences for

minor infractions, which sounds bonkers
until you learn they allegedly received

massive payouts from those centres,
totalling over $2 .7 million.

It's a scandal that later became known
as Kids for Cash.

And when it all came out, the outcry
tended to focus on the cash part. But to

clear, funneling kids into those
facilities, even for free, is not okay.

Especially when you learn some of those
minor infractions included smoking

cigarettes on school property, opening a
yo -yo in a convenience store, pranking

a schoolteacher by hiding her purse, and
stealing a Hershey bar, which I will

remind you is the exact crime Pants Bear
committed.

And we all know what happened to him.

Oh yes, Pants Bear.

In hindsight, you're just lucky you
didn't get tried as an adult.

And the fact judges have so much
discretion means their individual biases

have a huge impact on sentencing. And
one of the most glaring impacts is the

racial disparity in who gets sentenced
to what. 46 % of kids who get

incarcerated are black, even though
black kids comprise only about 15 % of

nation's youth. It's a discrepancy that
this head of a New Orleans... juvenile

center, points out with some heavy
sarcasm.

They're all African -American black,
young black kids.

Today, my population is 100%. Yesterday,
my population was 100%. My population

has been 100 % most of the time that
I've been here. We have an anomaly in

Orleans Parish in that white kids don't
go to detention.

Apparently, they don't commit car
burglaries. Apparently, they don't get

school fights and commit assaults.
Apparently, they're not selling drugs.

Because if they are, they're not winding
up in detention.

Okay, any time the population ends up
100 % all one race, something is up.

doesn't happen by chance. Even at a
black wedding in a black church,

got a work friend.

There are so many stories.

of kids who face starkly different
repercussions for the same activity.

Eric, a 13 -year -old boy who was
watching a movie and saw someone with a

Molotov cocktail. He thought it was cool
and wanted to see if he could make

something that looked like that. So he
grabbed an empty bottle and filled it

with household products. Then he taped
it up with black tape and put a piece of

toilet paper under the cap, which,
importantly, is not a Molotov cocktail,

a bottle that looks like one. He left it
in his backpack by mistake and brought

it to school, where he was pulled out of
class, questioned by police...

arrested, and charged with possession of
a Molotov cocktail, which he did not

have, attempted arson, which it could
not do, and carrying a dangerous weapon,

which again, it wasn't.

Eric is black.

And when his lawyer told that story at a
conference, a white woman walked over

and said, my son did exactly what you
described, so crucially, he faced a very

different punishment, and his school
rearranged his class schedule so he

take a chemistry course.

And there is just no clearer disparity
in punishment than the one between gets

arrested and gets class credit.

And to see just how naked these
differences can get, look at Rutherford

Tennessee, where black children make up
around 16 % of the local population. But

from 2010 to 2021, they accounted for 38
% of those locked up by the county. And

at that rate, you'd almost think they
were making up reasons to put black kids

into detention.

Well, guess what?

All right, well, in Tennessee, a judge
under fire for illegally jailing black

kids for watching a fight back in 2016.
The alleged crime, listen to this,

criminal responsibility of conduct of
another.

One of the problems, that's a fake law.

Yeah. Criminal responsibility for
conduct of another is not an actual

And you can't just invent reasons to
arrest people you don't like.

I'd love to put whoever thought a
cologne should be sponsored by Johnny

jail. You have chosen one of the only
men on earth who looks like he

smells like feet and ayahuasca.

That feels like a crime to me.

But at least I acknowledge that it isn't
one.

In the end, 11 elementary school
children were arrested.

And this all happened under a juvenile
system run by Judge Donna Scott

Davenport, who had set up a process
under which even kids accused of minor

violations must be taken into custody
and transported to jail.

And did you hear her tell it?

She was just doing what was necessary to
stamp out a wave of youth crime,

saying, we were in a crisis with our
children in Rutherford County. I've

seen it this bad. And calling herself
the mother of the county. And again, in

the sense that the queen from Aliens was
a mother, sure, I will allow it.

Davenport even had a radio segment where
she talked about how she had no choice

but to do what she was doing.

I've locked up one seven -year -old in
13 years, and that was a heartbreak.

But eight and nine -year -olds and odor
are very common now.

Okay, I'm not a judge. I'm not a
criminologist.

My expertise is mainly sitting behind a
desk, digesting lactose poorly, and

telling you which of these guinea pigs
can get it. From left to right, yes,

yes, yes, and yes. That's a full house,
ladies, but I am confident in saying

that if putting eight and nine -year
-olds behind bars has become very common

for you, maybe you are the one who
should be in fucking prison.

The point is...

Which judge you get is one of the big
variables in the Plinko board of your

case. The next is what sort of
punishment you get. Because if a judge

opt for leniency, they have a number of
tools at their disposal, including

putting you on probation. That's the
thing that little Joddy got earlier.

Some judges will give kids probation
either instead of locking them up or for

time after. And on its face, it does
sound better. Kids get to stay at home

at least theoretically get access to
community -based support.

But the terms can be so easy to violate,
they can still end up behind bars for

what amounts to standard teenage
behavior.

A few years ago, there was a case in
Michigan involving a girl called Grace.

She'd been sent before a judge for
stealing at school and fighting with her

mother. And she was sentenced to, quote,
intensive probation, which included a

GPS tether, regular check -ins with a
court caseworker, counseling, no phone,

and the use of a school laptop for
educational purposes only. She was also

required to do her schoolwork.

But this was all happening at the start
of COVID and remote school, which, as we

all know, was very difficult for some
kids. Grace lost some of the support

she'd been getting at school and missed
some assignments. And before long, she

was handcuffed and locked up because she
hadn't done her homework.

The judge called her a threat to the
community, a characterization that Grace

strongly disputes.

Do you feel that at any point you've
been a threat to the community?

No, no.

No, because if we called every person
who's taken something or every person

who's got an argument with their mom a
threat to the community, like, I'm

sure everybody would be a threat to the
community.

Exactly. That clearly doesn't make
sense, because if she'd done her

she wouldn't have been considered a
threat. But the second she missed a

worksheet, suddenly she's Tony fucking
Montana.

Studies have found that juvenile
probation is at best deeply ineffective,

worst it leaves kids more likely to
recidivate. And yet the sad truth is, it

still preferable to the harsher
alternatives, which brings us to the

of this story, youth incarceration,
essentially locking kids up.

That might mean a juvenile detention
centre where they await trial, like a

or a long -term facility after they've
been sentenced akin to a prison. But a

lot of these facilities don't like using
terms like jails or prisons, preferring

to go by state schools or academies or
youth centres.

But as this interview with the woman who
oversaw this facility makes clear,

those euphemisms are not fooling anyone
actually inside one.

Taylor calls itself a centre.

The state lists it as a correctional
facility.

The leadership calls the juveniles
clients, not inmates.

One of the young men I talked to today
said, they call us clients, but we're

clients. We're prisoners.

You can call whatever you want. You're
in a prison.

Does he have a point?

Well, we do still control their
movement.

They are still, certainly.

in an environment that we are in control
of, and they're not. And that probably

feels like prison.

And you have barbed wire.

Yes. And doors that lock.

Yes. In front of you and behind you.

Yes. One of the toughest things for my
job, certainly, is to always balance

the needs of the client and public
safety.

Okay. Putting aside the use of the word
client there, it probably feels like

prison. Yeah, of course it does. It's
fucking prison.

Lots of people feel like prisoners, but
they actually aren't. You know, people

trapped in loveless marriages or a
cameras -on -work call or a studio

where the subject of the alleged comedy
show is kids' prisons. But when there is

barbed wire and kids locked up in a
cell, it's not just a feeling, it's a

reality. Because whatever you call these
facilities, once you're inside, it is

painfully clear what they are.

From the outside, it looks like an
office building. But go inside, and it

like a prison.

These are single occupancy cells.

But look closer. This haunting picture
shows who's inside.

Children barely taller than door
handles.

Jesus Christ.

And honestly, props to that kid for
turning the creepy factor up to a

He saw someone with a camera and said,
let me show you assholes what it is

actually like in here.

Because that looks exactly like an adult
prison. And typically we tend to try

and tone things down if they're designed
for children. It is the entire business

model behind Kidz Bop. And Kidz Bop
takes a lot of shit.

But who else is changing the Macklemore
Lyric and Thrift Shop probably should

have washed this, smells like R. Kelly's
sheet, to probably should have washed

this, smells like my baseball cleats.

No, no.

Well, thanks.

have no minimum age to be sent to one of
these facilities, and some others set

the age at seven or eight, which is
horrifying enough even before you

what it can be like inside them. Just
listen to this mother describe the

conditions of a facility that her son
was kept in in Michigan.

They had flooding from sewage. My son
literally called me and said, Ma,

there's literally poop. I can't say the
word he said.

floating through the hallways, urine and
feces.

Look, I really appreciate that she's
going out of her way to be polite there,

but if your child tells you they're
living in a state -sanctioned shit

you should absolutely be allowed to
curse on local news.

In fact, you should be actively fucking
encouraged.

One employee at that facility even said,
I would sell my soul if it was my kid

in there to get them out.

Because the conditions are so bad. And
while that facility has since closed,

there are similar stories of unsanitary
conditions all over the country. And the

thing is, these places are supposed to
be rehabilitative.

But basic services like mental health
counselling can be non -existent. It's

estimated that up to 70 % of youths in
the justice system have a diagnosable

mental health problem. But as few as 20
% of them ever receive mental health

services in there. As for education
services, they are not much better.

A child in South Carolina reported
receiving only a single day of education

the course of nine months.

And a lawyer in Michigan said her young
clients didn't have anything to write

with to complete the schoolwork packets
that they were given. And a mother there

said that her son hadn't been attending
school at the facility, but instead had

received a word search to complete. And
clearly...

That is not an adequate education.
Although, for the record, that is also

only time that you'll ever find me bad
-mouthing word searches. Because that

shit is fun.

A letter mystery where your eyes are the
detectives? Don't mind if I do.

I'm a word slut who loves to be right.
Up, down, backwards, diagonal, it's

Cirque du Soleil for your mind.

And when you find a word that is not
only diagonal, it's backwards, honey,

honey?

Fuck me stupid, I'm wet for that.

So...

It is hardly surprising researchers have
found that detained students have

significantly worse academic outcomes,
with one study in Washington finding

16 % of detained students there
graduated from high school, compared to

non -detained students.

And it's not just lousy buildings or a
lack of services. There is also physical

violence, sometimes actively encouraged
by the staff.

30 Los Angeles County officers charged,
accused of staging what prosecutors are

calling gladiator fights inside a
juvenile detention center. After video

of those fights, first obtained and
published by the L .A. Times last year,

helped trigger an investigation.

Parents of one of the teens speaking
with NBC Los Angeles horrified at the

footage. They say the guards appear to
do nothing to help, even appearing to

shake hands with one of the boys who hit
him.

That is horrifying.

Even the Roman emperor who invented
gladiator fights, whoever that was,

look at that and go, what the fuck is
wrong with you?

Also, how did you get it to be light in
there without a fire? Also, what am I

watching this on? But mostly, what the
actual fuck is wrong with you?

And staff can be active participants in
abuse. There have been multiple reports

of staff and facilities doing things
like withholding sanitary pads or

withholding prescribed medications as
collective punishment.

And I won't even get into all the many
examples of physical abuse that we found

researching this story. Suffice to say,
a guard at one facility in Florida

apparently beat his detainees with a
broomstick that he nicknamed Broomy.

And if all that wasn't bad enough, which
it very much is, Some facilities also

use solitary confinement, which, as
we've discussed before, is widely

torture. For kids and teenagers in
particular, prolonged isolation can

exacerbate mental disabilities or other
serious mental health problems. And yet,

it has been used routinely.

There have been reports of kids kept in
isolation for 22 hours a day or more,

often for days, weeks, or even months on
end.

Just listen to this man, who went
through Judge Davenport's facility as a

teenager, explain how he wound up in
solitary.

Me and my best friend, we had gone out
at night and we had opened up some

unlocked cars.

They didn't steal the cars, but they did
take some change.

It was a nonviolent offense.

But Dylan was held in solitary
confinement for four days waiting to see

Four days doesn't sound like a lot until
there's absolutely nothing to do. I

mean, just go shut yourself in a closet
for four days and you'll know what I

mean. Yeah, that would absolutely be
torture. You try shutting yourself in a

closet for four days. You will quickly
lose your mind. Sure, you'll maybe

initially check the back to see if
you've got any chance of a Narnia

But even then, you're dealing with some
needy talking animals and some pretty

heavy -handed Christian allegory. You
might be better off on your own. And

remember, that wasn't even his
punishment.

He was just waiting to be seen by a
judge.

And this happens all the time.

Though some facilities won't use the
term solitary, instead calling it

seclusion, isolation, segregation or
room confinement.

One even sent kids to what they called
reflection cottages.

Which honestly sounds like a place on
The Bachelor where the contestants go to

masturbate.

And some facilities can be pretty
shameless about this. Take the Richard

Centre in Knoxville.

It's known to lock kids alone in a cell
more than any other facilities in their

state. And here's its head and namesake,
Richard Bean, laying out his general

philosophy when it comes to juvenile
detention.

And used to, we paddled kids.

In 1986, we stopped when the state ruled
you couldn't.

And had a lot of problems since then. We
didn't have any problems.

They thought I was about half crazy. I'd
whip six or eight a year.

And it runs pretty smooth.

What we do is treat everybody like
they're in here for murder.

And you don't have any problems if you
do that.

You know what?

I do have a problem, actually.

And it's not just that your name is Dick
Bean or that you have a literal kid

jail named after you. It's not even that
you smack your lips like you're

recording ASMR for sociopaths.

It's that you should not treat every
child in your care like a murderer. And

the record...

Most of the kids in Dick Bean's facility
are not yet convicted of anything.

Most have only been charged with a crime
and are awaiting court dates. And yet

kids have been put in solitary there for
things like talking back and forgetting

to bring their books to class. But when
local news spoke to the centre's board

chairman, he saw nothing wrong with what
they were doing.

It's not like we're putting them in a
cage somewhere. They're in their normal

bedroom. It's their bedroom. This is...

The solitary confinement.

It's just you go to your room.

What are you laughing at there, you
deeply weird man?

The only way that playful giggle makes
any sense is if just out of frame a

Keebler elf was tickling his balls with
a feather.

I want this by no means the point. I
just want to take a minute to address

episode of hoarders happening behind
this man. What is going on in that room?

count. four American flags, one aquarium
for hanging dress shirts, two bookends

with no books between them, a whole
collection of elephants, one Trump doll,

Obama doll that either evens things out
or makes things much worse, one portrait

of Richard Nixon, and one actual Richard
fucking Bean. What are you doing back

there, dick? Sit anywhere else!

You're too old to be lurking in the
background without suggesting some kind

Weekend at Bernie's situation's
happening.

Tennessee's Department of Children's
Services has been documenting the

use of seclusion at the Bean Center for
years, and yet they continue to approve

their license to operate.

And while Richard Bean himself is
finally retiring later this year in the

of yet another scandal at the facility,
he's doing so at age 84, and not only

will the facility stay open, this
devil's egg is still the head of the

there. And that is to think it. Nothing
I've brought up tonight is new

information. We've known about abuse in
juvenile confinement facilities for

decades. And it's worth remembering that
if public safety is your priority,

locking kids up by the hundreds of
thousands just isn't the answer to that.

Detention actually increases the
likelihood that youth will be arrested

punished later on. One study in
Washington state found that every

spent in detention increased the odds of
felony recidivism by one percentage

point. Meaning that locking kids up over
the long run makes no fucking sense.

As this critic of New Jersey system
points out.

95 % of kids who are locked up here are
black.

At a cost of more than $250 ,000 per kid
per year.

More than an Ivy League education. Much
more per year, much more than four years

of an Ivy League education.

And that youth coming out of these
places reoffend at a rate that exceeds

So we know we're buying a whole lot of
failure for a whole

lot of money.

Yeah, on top of everything else, this
nightmare is not even cost effective.

I can actually recommend a book that
talks more about that. It's called The

Purely Economic Argument Against Ad -Hoc
Child Torture. You know, if that's

something you needed.

The truth is, we don't do this because
it works, because it doesn't. We do this

because we want to.

Because we're afraid of these kids, or
we're mad at them, or we just can't

imagine that they could be ours, and so
we don't give a shit.

There's even a pervasive sense that
whatever happens to these kids in these

facilities is somehow what they deserve,
even if what happens to them is

horrifying. Kids in Louisiana's Ware
Youth Center reported enduring, among

other terrible things, sexual abuse from
guards at the price of phone privileges

or in exchange for food, despite a
horrendous... pattern of abuse there.

had only prosecuted three guards in her
13 years in office and even then gave

them all plea bargains to keep them out
of prison and off sex offender

registries. Because she said she did not
like the idea of burdening someone with

a charge that they did not deserve.

And when asked if the cases made her
concerned about the safety of children

that facility, she responded, we're
talking about armed robbers and

and these girls haven't even hit the age
of 18 yet, some of them. Do I worry

about their safety? No, I don't. I think
that they're quite capable of taking

care of themselves.

And it is pretty telling who she's
comfortable reducing to a label there.

murderers are fine on their own, but
let's not call these poor, sex

guys sex offenders. They have their
whole life ahead of them. They can

That kind of indifference is sadly all
too common throughout this system. And

you want to see the tragic consequences
of it from start to finish, take the

case of Solon Peterson, a 13 -year -old
who was arrested after an incident at

his school. His parents asked that he go
to a mental health facility.

But instead, he was sent to a juvenile
detention centre. As it happens, the

one where those guards were sexually
abusing girls.

While there, Solon disassembled the life
in his cell and was sent to isolation.

Under Louisiana state rules, isolation
shouldn't exceed four hours.

Solon was kept in isolation for four
days.

At one point, he reportedly told the
guard that he wanted to die, to which

guard replied, if you want to be killing
yourself, just do it.

And I'll let this news story pick things
up from there.

Solon took his own life in solitary
confinement at the Ware Youth Center in

Cushatta. The 13 -year -old was there
because he'd set a roll of toilet paper

fire at Houghton Middle School.

Solon's death raised serious questions
about whether he should have been sent

where in the first place.

He had no criminal history and was
battling PTSD and ADHD with the help of

medications. We feel very confident in
knowing that if Solon had lived 15 miles

in the opposite direction, that he would
not have been in this situation because

the judge in that jurisdiction...

would have made a different choice for
his case yeah that is heartbreaking and

yet the where you center remains open
and if you're thinking how can a system

treat kids like this i'd argue it's what
happens when too many of us stop

thinking of them as kids some of whom
may have done terrible things many of

haven't and none of whom deserve this
because look We've all done stupid

in our youth. Maybe you shoplifted or
committed vandalism or roasted a teacher

online or got in a fight or, God forbid,
opened a yo -yo in a convenience store.

Any of the things that you've heard kids
get in trouble for tonight, and maybe

you didn't face lasting consequences.

But it's worth remembering that for the
variables of race or class or how the

Plinko chip happened to fall, things
could have ended very differently for

So what can we do?

I would argue that the whole system I've
shown you from start to finish here

needs reform. When it comes to the
juvenile justice process, kids should be

provided access to legal counsel at
every step of the system. If they want

waive their right to an attorney, it
should only be after a discussion with

And if they're going to be given
probation, it should be designed in such

that rewards and incentivises good
behaviour instead of penalising a kid

every mistake they make. But in general,
experts suggest diverting kids... into

things like family -focused multi
-dimensional therapy models, mentorship

programmes, and investing in community
-based interventions is in most cases

best approach.

One of the most comprehensive studies
ever undertaken in this field followed

over a thousand adolescent boys for five
years after they'd been arrested for

low -level offences. And it found that
diversion isn't just better for the

It actually promotes public safety
through reducing violence, which serves

everyone. The good news is...

There are lots of organisations that
have been working hard to deliver those

services. The bad news is they're among
the ones getting hardest hits by the

Trump administration's massive funding
cuts.

Now, when it comes to incarceration, I
will concede there are some kids who may

be a threat to themselves or others and
may, for a time, need to be in a secure

setting. But even then, I'd argue any
residential treatment they get should

no resemblance.

to adult incarceration.

I'd also argue that adult incarceration
should bear no resemblance to adult

incarceration, but that is for another
time.

That's for another time.

To their credit, all these states have
passed some rules or statutes limiting

the practice of locking kids up over
minor probation violations, which is

And all of these in D .C. have passed
laws aimed at improving conditions in

youth facilities. So I will warn you
there that cosmetic changes can be

reassuring. There have been numerous
stories of facilities that bragged about

new approaches like pet therapy and
yoga, only for it to then emerge that

were hung to the same abuses as
traditional facilities, just with more

coloured walls.

So reform can't be a discrete event. It
has to be an ongoing commitment to

reimagining this entire system. And for
the final time, I get that some kids can

commit heinous crimes, but our anger at
those crimes...

shouldn't be the main thing dictating
our treatment of those kids.

Especially when you consider kids'
brains do change as they get older.

indicate that even psychopathic traits
decrease with age in the majority of

youth, whether they're involved with the
justice system or not. The point here

is, no matter what they did, kids
deserve safety, respect, protection, and

chance to grow beyond their mistakes.
They deserve to be treated like

individuals with potential and value
even, and I would argue especially.

On their worst day.

Being an adult is hard.

Becoming one is even harder.

And we need to work as diligently as we
can to make sure that we are not

wrecking kids' lives by mindlessly
throwing them into these prisons or

or youth centres or freedom -challenged
inside yards or whatever the fuck you

want to call them.

And if we can do this, then hopefully
one day we'll be able to look back on

absolute disgrace of a system.

As a thing of the past. And just like
happy reformed Johnny, say, gee, that

dumb, wasn't it?

And now this.

And now, KLAS reporter Ozzie Mora loves
to show, not tell.

Think of social media being a tree like
this one. Each branch representing a

different platform.

Las Vegas is one of the places with the
highest eviction rates. Some of these

rocks that you see here can be hidden
around parks in trees.

light pole, and table.

The ladies train six to eight hours
every weekend.

Telling me the overall goal is to
provide opportunities for women. Every

licensed educator needs to renew their
license five to six years, depending on

their degree.

This yoga course that we're in right now
offers six hours towards the 15 hours

they need to renew.

But when you open these doors, the
opportunities are endless. Students can

up in any of these stations in class,
whether it be connecting wires.

Or cutting up some wood.

Or hammering away.

And the numbers show just how many
students are struggling. For the school

2022 -2023, the department had 4 ,100
referrals from either parents or

pediatricians. CCSD is not even halfway
through this school year and there are

already 2 ,000 referrals.

That's our show. Thanks so much for
watching. We'll see you next week.