MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Djovani Jean-Pierre spent his 17th birthday in a small county jail in rural northern Alabama, where he has languished for more than half the school year awaiting trial.
On the advice of his 51-year-old cellmate, Jean-Pierre avoids contact with others in the jail. The Black teen of Haitian descent has seen inmates with swastika tattoos and witnessed beatings, and he has had no in-person or virtual visits from his parents in the nearly six months he has been behind bars.
“It’s been hard,” Jean-Pierre told The Associated Press. “I just stay in my cell.”
His case highlights the potential danger of state laws that automatically send teen suspects to adult detention facilities.
Jean-Pierre is charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree assault and two misdemeanors, and is jailed under an Alabama law that gives judges more discretion to deny bail for some people accused of violent crimes. He had no prior arrests, but if convicted could be sentenced to life in prison.
Local activists and juvenile justice advocates say teenagers incarcerated with adults are more vulnerable to abuse and that Jean-Pierre’s situation clearly violates state and federal laws prohibiting the confinement of minors “where they may have sight, sound, or physical contact with adult inmates.” The sheriff says to abide by those laws, Jean-Pierre would have to be held in solitary confinement, which could also be severely damaging.
The number of teenagers in U.S. adult prisons or jails dropped from a two-decade high of 10,420 in 2008 to a low of 2,250 in 2021, according to the most recent Bureau of Justice Statistics data. Almost 90% of those teens are in local jails where people are typically held prior to conviction.
Jean-Pierre’s story
Prosecutors said “several eyewitnesses” saw Jean-Pierre, then 16, use a gun to steal a loaded pistol from someone at a party in September. No gun was fired and no one was injured.
Acting on a tip, a school resource officer detained him during football practice the following day and found the stolen firearm in his bag. Jean-Pierre is also accused of assaulting the school resource officer.
Authorities said Jean-Pierre was arrested for stealing the gun but that there is no evidence he intended to use it at school.
At the time, Jean-Pierre’s lawyer said the charges and his confinement were racially motivated, given tensions in Albertville surrounding the small town’s growing Haitian population. Nearly 1,000 people signed a petition attesting to the teen’s character and supporting his transfer to juvenile court, where cases are sealed and minors are held in youth facilities.
But Marshall County District Attorney Jennifer Bray said state law and evidence including witness testimony prevented her from charging him as a juvenile. Bray is optimistic she will find a resolution with Jean-Pierre’s attorney that balances accountability with compassion so he can make positive changes in his life, she wrote in an email.
In the best interest of the community
A slew of laws that took effect in 2024 escalate criminal punishments for teenagers, amid a broader return to a tough-on-crime approach nationwide. Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee and Louisiana made it easier to charge teenagers in adult court. Proponents say these laws increase public safety. Opponents say the changes jeopardize the safety of minors accused of crimes.
In Alabama, laws that automatically send teenagers to adult jails have existed for years, meaning some minors are held in general population with adults in violation of federal law, said Charlotte Morrison, a senior attorney with the Equal Justice Initiative.
Morrison recalled at least five counties where she has worked with or learned of teenagers who were abused because they were held with adults. Adult facilities cannot safely house children and teenagers, she said, and the focus should instead be their reintegration into the community.
Richard Rice, a civil rights attorney representing Jean-Pierre, said the teenager had been a strong student but that he doesn’t have access to school materials in jail.
“Djovani deserves compassion and a second chance to learn from this experience rather than subjecting him to unnecessary detainment that fails to serve his best interests or those of the community,” Rice said.
The alternative is solitary confinement
Minors are eight times as likely to experience sexual abuse in an adult jail than inmates over 18, according to the Department of Justice, and are more than twice as likely to die by suicide compared to jail inmates aged 18 to 24. One study found minors who are incarcerated with adults are 33% more likely to die before they turn 39 compared to all other teenagers.
Numerous public defenders, juvenile justice attorneys and advocates told the AP they are shocked that Jean-Pierre isn’t separated from adults in the jail.
“We know it is such well settled law now that you cannot house children with adults,” said Preston Shipp, a former Tennessee assistant attorney general and current policy director for the Campaign for Fair Sentencing of Youth. “This is not a gray area anymore.”
Marshall County Sheriff Phil Sims said the jail doesn’t have the capacity to house Jean-Pierre separately from adults without putting him in solitary confinement.
“That’s more detrimental than anything else, especially to mental health,” said Sims.
He said Jean-Pierre is housed with people charged with non-violent crimes and that he hasn’t had any disciplinary issues.
Jean-Pierre said his original cellmate, who is now in another facility, was an invaluable resource.
“If it wasn’t for my cellmate, Marcus, I don’t know,” Jean-Pierre said. “He just kept being positive, saying ‘the trouble will pass, take this as a lesson.’”
Jean-Pierre had hoped he would be recruited to play football in college or join the Army.
Now, he said, the uncertainty about his future is the hardest thing to bear.
“I want everyone to know I’m not a bad person. I just made a mistake,” he said. “I hope that whenever I can get out, I can change everybody’s mind, do right.”
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Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
