The auditorium of Career High School in New Haven, CT was filled with about 40 young people aged 13 -21 on February 23, as well as several adults. They came to try out for a role in a short film produced by 4 Peace, former Boston street gang members/musical entrepreneurs who turned their lives around and became leading advocates for stopping violence among young people. The chance to achieve stardom was the main objective of the young males and females nervously waiting to be called to audition. But for Lori Vernali of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut who helped put together the event, the objective was far more important--preventing young girls and women from ending up in prison.
Females are the fastest growing segment of the prison population. Many of the girls and women who get caught up in the criminal justice system do so because they make poor choices, typically with enticement from their male partners. Often a male teen who is involved in criminal activities, such as dealing drugs, will encourage his girlfriend to hold his drug stash or gun. Professing love for his girlfriend, the teen will cajole her into playing a minor role in his criminal activities. Felice Duffy, a Federal Prosecutor, was there to tell the audience that in the federal system, a minor role can carry a major sentence. Listening to Duffy rattling off the number of years a person can get for crimes like possession, dealing and conspiring, the crowd began to stir.
Deborah Jones appeared on stage to warn the audience about the consequences of domestic violence. Jones’ message was for both the young women and men before her. “Never let an abusive relationship continue,” said Jones. She told the girls that at the first episode of abuse they must get out of the relationship. She implored the boys to show respect to the females in their lives and to never be abusive. Jones knows what she is talking about. After being in an abusive relationship for years, she couldn’t take getting beaten anymore and killed her abuser. She spent 12 years in prison, and now speaks to others to try to prevent them from ending up as she did.
The auditions for the new 4 Peace film were also held in Bridgeport and Hartford earlier in the week. Like the 4 Peace film “Mandatory Minimum,” the, as yet untitled, film is geared to be a wake up call for those who haven’t considered the consequences that just one poor choice can create. These consequences were made abundantly clear when women from the Danbury Federal Correctional Institution's Choices Program, under the direction and supervision of Camp Administrator Jeff Powers and Federal Prison Counselor Kisha Perkins, took the stage.
Each of the 15 or so women clad in green khaki prison garb stated their name, age, crime and the sentence they received. As sentences of thirty-one years, nineteen years, twenty-two years were recited in an almost eerie monotone, the young crowd gasped in disbelief. Even though they had just heard from another presenter the harsh sentences that the feds dole out, the women of Choices took those numbers from being a mere abstract thought to a gut-churning reality.
Perhaps the young people, particularly the girls, saw themselves, or a mother or sister, in the women sitting on the stage before them. There definitely was a sense of connection. Each women spoke about what she had lost during her incarceration. For some it was their house, or job. For others, the loss was far more significant--a child or parent who had died while they were locked up. To all it was the many months or years that they were kept away from their families. It was the lost opportunities and unfulfilled dreams. Sitting among the crowd, a Reentry Central staff member felt the almost tangible impact that the female prisoners had upon the audience. Yes, the young people came to audition or, perhaps, to obtain acting advice from Charles Grady, Senior Investigator at the U.S. Attorney's Office and professional actor, but they left with a strong desire to make the right choices in life.
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