by TChris

The notion that kids who commit "adult" crimes should be subjected to "adult" punishment has often resulted in kids facing the same abuse that adult prisoners encounter. Maybe the failure of that approach in Louisiana will be a lesson to other states.

The allegations began soon after the prison opened for business: teenage inmates beaten by guards, beating each other, running loose on the rooftops of the barracks-like dorms. Ten years later, Louisiana is shutting down its toughest juvenile prison, a move that child welfare advocates see as an admission of failure.

In 1997, the Justice Department found widespread abuse of inmates by guards had left teens with gashes and broken bones. Federal investigators reported a year later that teens were beating and raping fellow inmates.

Abusing kids doesn't scare them into obedience, it just teaches them to be abusive.

Advocates said the adult-style prison - with individual cells inside cell blocks behind fences and razor wire - created an atmosphere unlikely to rehabilitate the teens. They said the teens were more likely to commit far worse crimes when they got out.

This story also teaches a lesson about the danger of privatizing prisons.