Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: “today in this greatest of all countries we obviously face a problem, a problem of juvenile crime. I rise as the father…”

“today in this greatest of all countries we obviously face a problem, a problem of juvenile crime. I rise as the father of four children, a youth baseball, basketball, softball coach, a former judge, a former chairman of a juvenile committee in Texas. Based upon that experience, I am convinced of one thing. Our focus in this Congress and in this country should be on one thing. We have kids with problems. We do not have problem kids. If we send our children to school hungry, needing medical care, with no hope for a quality education, they will not succeed. We cannot expect them to succeed, and neither would we succeed under those same circumstances. As a former judge, I have heard thousands of juvenile cases. Thousands. I agree that we need to teach children and juveniles to be responsible. Some children absolutely must be incarcerated. But if we think that by merely incarcerating children that we are going to solve these problems, we are wrong. If we think it will serve as a deterrent, we are fooling ourselves. I will tell my colleagues one thing I learned as a judge. Children are fearless. They are fearless. They make no connection like adults do between the commission and what happens.”