Given the serious and well-documented nature of the issues raised by Human Rights Watch, it would seem that the least the state can do is carefully investigate the true extent of the problem. Gov. Parris N. Glendening should sponsor legislation this year to ensure immediate reviews of charges for all youths who are automatically prosecuted as adults and prohibit minors from being imprisoned with adults. The Human Rights Watch report recounted a litany of horrific conditions, including correctional facilities that are unsafe, unsanitary and inhumane. Children are frequently placed in contact with adult inmates, sometimes even sharing cells with them. One youth in the Baltimore City Detention Center reported that adult detainees in his section frequently harassed him by throwing excrement and urine into his cell.
Violence is common, and sometimes condoned by guards.
Despite the strong correlation between mental illness and delinquent behavior, mental health services in Baltimore's jail are minimal to non-existent, according to the report. Youths in crisis are placed in a mental health unit, where they are often kept naked. Minority children are much more likely than white children to be tried as adults and sent to jail pending trial, the report stated. Some 39 percent of youths referred to the juvenile justice system are African-American, but 73 percent of youths tried as adults are black. The report's author, Michael Bochenek, said that he was surprised to find such conditions in a progressive state like Maryland.