Part Two: Incarcerated Children

Hi and welcome back! 

In this post, I am going to focus on chapter six. This chapter is different in that it strays away from the case of Walter McMillian and instead tells a story about another case Stevenson represented. It is about Charlie, a young boy who killed a man. His story goes like this:

His mother was in a relationship with an abusive and alcoholic man named George. In fact, there were several occasions where Charlie’s mother was so badly beaten that she had to seek medical care. Most nights George would come home from the bar very drunk and very angry. But one particular night, before George set off to the bar, Charlie’s mom had begged him not to go, in fear that he would come home drunk again. But he didn’t listen. And when he came home that night he punched Charlie’s mom in the face hard enough that her head hit the kitchen counter and fell to the ground. George then went to the bedroom and passed out. Charlie knew that the only way to save his mom was to call 911. The only problem was that the phone was in the bedroom that George was in. Mustering up enough courage, Charlie entered the room and picked up the phone. But at that moment Charlie also opened the dresser drawer and grabbed the handgun and shot George. 

There are several things I should mention:

One, Charlie was only fourteen when he killed George. 

Two, George was a local police officer.

Three, Charlie was tried as an adult and sent to a county jailed for adults.

This story in itself is already tragic, but the way Stevenson strategically tells the story makes it even more powerful.

To begin with, the first thing you read in this chapter is, ‘“He’s just a little boy’”(Stevenson 115). These words were spoken by Charlie’s grandma when she called Stevenson for legal help. Right from the start, Stevenson is telling us that this story is about a kid. It’s even more compelling in that he’s quoting a close relative of Charlie's which makes the fact that he is a kid very personal. 

This isn’t the only time Stevenson reminds the readers that Charlie is just a kid. In the following passage the author makes use of short sentences and commas to stress that Charlie is just a boy: 

“Charlie was fourteen years old. He weighed less than 100 pounds and was just five feet tall. He didn’t have any juvenile criminal history--no prior arrests, no misconduct in school, no delinquencies, or prior court appearances” (Stevenson 117). 

By starting off with a short and straightforward sentence that introduces Charlie’s age, it makes it very clear to the readers how old Charlie is. If this information wasn’t in a stand alone sentence, it would have surely been lost in a sea of other words. Stevenson continues to paint the picture that Charlie is just an innocent kid by sharing Charlie’s height and weight measurements. He does this because he wants to underline the idea that it’s hard to imagine that such a small boy could be prosecuted as an adult and sent to stay with adult felons, is hard to imagine. For most people when they picture an inmate, the person is an adult and has a personality that could be summed up as “tough”. Unfortunately for Charlie, he lacked those very two traits. Stevenson isn’t done just yet. The last part of the passage could be described as a list, a list that supports the claim that Charlie is a good boy. It is also used to make the audience question why a kid with no prior criminal record was tried as an adult. It just doesn’t make sense. But if you think back to the fact that George is a cop, the passage subtly hints that that might be the reason why Charlie is being tried as an adult and given harsher punishment. 

I should make it clear that Stevenson isn’t trying to prove Charlie innocent of shooting George. Charlie already admitted to doing that. What he’s trying to do is tell us that a boy so young and good-hearted should not be put into an adult jail. But it’s not just Charlie. No kid should be sent to an adult jail.

When Stevenson met Charlie, the first thing Charlie did was cry. After calming down Charlie explained to Stevenson what had happened in the jail, ‘“There were three men who hurt me on the first night. They touched me and made me do things”’ (Stevenson 123). It wasn’t a one time thing. Every time I read this my heart just drops. And that is exactly what Stevenson wants. It’s already known that jails are rough and at times very dangerous. But to read an actual account from Charlie makes it ever so real. And by including that Charlie cried and took almost an hour to stop supports the idea that Charlie is just a little boy. 

It is very evident that Stevenson appeals to pathos, not just because the story itself is emotional, but because Stevenson makes use of syntax (ie. use of short sentences and commas) and context (ie. including quotes from Charlie and his grandma). But to further support his claim that children should not be incarcerated, Stevenson includes statistical information related to the rate of children being incarcerated. 

“Many states had changed their laws to make it easier to prosecute children as adults and my clients were getting younger and younger. Alabama had more juveniles sentenced to death per capita than any other state--or any other country in the world” (Stevenson 115).  

This information shows that Charlie isn’t the only kid that is being incarcerated. And that in fact, there is an influx of kids in recent years that are being sent to adult jail. The possibility that other kids in jail are being raped and abused is horrific to think about. By embedding factual information into the story he creates a stronger case. Because Stevenson isn’t just playing with our emotions, he’s telling the truth. In addition, it also builds his credibility because it demonstrates that he has researched the topic and knows a lot about it. 

A fourth thing I should mention is that Charlie’s story isn’t done yet. His story actually has a happy ending. Stevenson was successfully able to move Charlie to a juvenile facility in just a couple of days. And while at a church telling Charlie’s story, a married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Jennings, approached Stevenson to ask if there was anything they could do to help Charlie. At first, Stevenson took caution but the couple kept insisting that they wanted to help and eventually started corresponding to Charlie by writing letters. When Charlie was in detention, the Jennings helped him get his GED and when he was released they paid for his college education. 

‘“We’ve all been through a lot, Bryan, all of us. I know that some have been through more than others. But if we don’t expect more from each other, hope better for one another, and recover from the hurt we experience, we are surely doomed”’(Stevenson 126)

This is a quote from Mrs. Jennings and I think it summarizes one of Stevenson purposes of this book. And that is we can’t give up on the people that have made mistakes. Incarcerating kids and putting men on death row isn’t going to solve any of the problems. The conditions and environments in these facilities are inhumane and toxic. Like the Jennings family, we can’t expect less from these people and we can’t give up hope. And this is exactly why Stevenson included Charlie's story. While it is still a story about a boy who murdered someone, it is also about the fact that people didn’t give up on him. They gave him mercy.

Thank you for reading!