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.H I P H O P M AT T E R Sthat appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle.“Before he was incar-cerated,” Laura Talkington wrote, “my son was a happy and goofykid, full of energy.” As a first-grader her son was diagnosed with a hy-peractive disorder.The medications he received made his behavioraggressive and unpredictable.Like a lot of poor and working-classparents, she could not aƒord the treatments that might have pro-vided him better care.Eventually, his aggressive behavior led to a series of arrests that ended up placing him with the CYA at the age offifteen.Privately, she may have believed that in the care of the CYAhe would finally receive proper treatment.That was, after all, part of their stated mission.Four years later, however, her hopes came face to face with theharsh realities of a youth corrections ethos that had hardened towardthe young people it was designed to help.Instead of helping her son,the CYA appeared only to make life more perilous for the youngster.During her visits Ms.Talkington noticed the cuts, choke marks, andbruises from the constant attacks he faced.“I have seen him loseconfidence in himself, become cold and depressed and fearful for hislife,” she said, adding that “California fulfills its obligation to rehabil-itate troubled youth by putting them in large warehouses that are nodiƒerent from prison.” She called for the elimination of the CYA anda new approach to dealing with young oƒenders like her son.First-hand accounts like these were not the exception; sadly, theyrepresented the rule as many young people and family membersfound themselves caught up in the CYA’s unique form of juvenile jus-tice.For years advocacy groups had been calling for an overhaul ofthe CYA.Those calls had gone largely unheard, with the exceptionof a few minor responses here and there.But in the early part of 2004the abuses within the CYA and its stunning failure, marked by a 90percent recidivism rate, became too overwhelming to ignore.On January 19, CYA authorities found Durrell Feaster, 18, andDeon Whitfield, 17, hanged from a top bunk in their cell at the Pres-ton Youth Correctional Facility.Durrell was committed to the CYAin 2001 for crimes that included stealing a car and receiving stolen176
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