Abnormal, the "new normal," and destabilizing discourses of rights

Public Culture

Volumn 18, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 53-77

  Ruddick, Susan ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 33644779708     PISSN: 08992363     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1215/08992363-18-1-53     Document Type: Review

References (62)

1. Stuart Hall, Chas Critcher, Tony Jefferson, John Clarke, and Brian Roberts, Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State and Law and Order (London: Macmillan Education, 1978).
2. Michel Foucault, Abnormal: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1974-1975, ed. Valerio Marchetti and Antonella Salomoni, trans. Graham Burchell (New York: Picador, 2003), 124.
3. Foucault, Abnormal, 12.
4. Foucault, Abnormal, 20.
5. Foucault, Abnormal, 36.
6. Foucault, Abnormal, 15.
7. Foucault, Abnormal, 34.
8. Associated Press, "Pinellas Fifth Grader Cuffed, Sent Home after Classmates Turn Him in for Drawing Weapons," May 11, 2001, www.sun-sentinel.com.
9. Compare to Foucault, Abnormal, 33-34.
10. Foucault, Abnormal;
11. Anthony Platt, The Child Savers: The Invention of Delinquency (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969);
12. John R. Gillis, Youth and History: Transition and Change in European Age Relations, 1770-Present (New York: Academic Press, 1981);
13. Nicholas Rose, Governing the Soul: The Shaping of the Private Self (New York: Free Association Books, 1999).
14. In fact, some of the key developments addressed in this essay that have become routine practice in the United States (such as zero-tolerance policies in schools) have been selectively applied and discarded in other nations. The contemporary history of different national and regional regimes of socialization and education, and the impact of national differences in class composition and other factors in norms and forms of child rearing, still needs to be written (for a start, see Gillis, Youth and History, and
15. Platt, The Child Savers)
16. In the United States, before the Supreme Court ruled against juvenile executions in March 2005, almost half of the states in the nation allowed the execution of juveniles, and slightly under half - twenty-one states - set the minimum age for execution at sixteen years of age. The United States stood alone among Western, industrial, democratic nations in this endorsement of juvenile execution, and among only six other nations - Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen - in the entire world. See Victor L. Streib, "Moratorium on the Death Penalty for Juveniles," Law and Contemporary Problems 61, no. 4 (1998): 65.
17. See, for example, Pet. Writ Cert. Beazley v. Texas, cert, denied 70 USLW 3245 (October 1, 2001), (00-10618), www.internationaljusticeproject.org/pdfs/ beazleyFinalCERT.pdf; brief for
18. Amicus Curiae, In re Kevin Nigel Stanford, 537 US 968 (2002), (01-10009), www.internationaljustice project.org/pdfs/KStanfordAmicusBriefBrainDev.pdf; Pet.
19. Writ Cert. Hain v. Gibson, 287 F. 1224 (10th Cir. 2002) cert, denied USLW: 71 USLW 2654 (April 15, 2003), www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/Haincert. pdf;
20. In re Toronto Markkey Patterson Clemency Petition: Before the Governor for the State of Texas, www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/tpcp.pdf (accessed July 18, 2005).
21. Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 US 361 (1989).
22. Roper v. Simons, 543 US 101 (2005).
23. ABC News/Nightline, "Kids in Court Series, Part 1: Debate about Juveniles Being Tried as Adults," February 28, 2000, www.abcnews.com.
24. Arguably, the number of young people executed in the United States is small when compared proportionately to the five other countries that engage in this practice. What is telling, however, is the stance of the Supreme Court, which, by a five-to-four margin, has defended the death penalty for young people in spite of repeated challenges. This position was only recently overturned in Roper v. Simons (2005) by a similar margin (five to four) when Associate Justice Kennedy reversed his earlier position.
25. Victor L. Streib, The Juvenile Death Penalty Today: Death Sentences and Executions for Juvenile Crime, January 1973-December 31, 2004 (Ada: Claude W. Pettit College of Law, Ohio Northern University, 2005). Accessed online at www.law.onu.edu/faculty/streib/documents/Juv DeathDec2004.pdf.
26. There were prior executions of juveniles; for instance in South Carolina on June 16, 1944, fourteen-year-old George Junius Stinney was executed for attempted rape and attempted murder of two younger girls, eleven and eight years old. He was executed in spite of questions as to whether he was the actual perpetrator. Through the 1990s, however, the rate of executions began to rise. See Streib, The Juvenile Death Penalty.
27. See Pet. Writ Cert. Beazley v. Texas, cert, denied 70 USLW 3245 (October 1, 2001) (no. 00-10618), www.internationaljusticeproject.org/pdfs/ beazleyFinalCERT.pdf; Pet.
28. Writ Cert. Hain v. Gibson, 287 F.1224 (10th Cir. 2002) cert, denied USLW: 71 USLW 2654 (April 15 2003), www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/Haincert.pdf;
29. In re Toronto Markkey Patterson Clemency Petition: Before the Governor for the State of Texas, www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/tpcp.pdf (accessed July 18, 2005).
30. Ex Parte Napoleon Beazley, No. 36, 151-02 (Tex. Crim. App., April 17, 2002) (no. 00-10618), 34. Accessed online at www.internationaljusticeproject. org/pdfs/beazleyFinalCERT.pdf.
31. Petition for Clemency Ex Parte Napoleon Beazley, No. 36, 151-02 (Tex. Crim. App., April 17, 2002), (00-10618), 10. Accessed at www. internationaljusticeproject.org/pdfs/NBeazleyClemency.pdf.
32. Amnesty International, Indecent and Internationally Illegal: The Death Penalty Against Child Offenders, 2002, at www.amnestyusa.org/countries/usa/ document.do?id=4f86b0b7ca5b235a 80256c3200478e26.
33. Amnesty International U.S., "Why Protect Children Who Commit Violent 'Adult' Crimes?" in On the Wrong Side of History: Children and the Death Penalty in the USA, 1998, at web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510581998.
34. This shift in the discursive foundations of the juvenile criminal system has a much earlier relationship to rights discourse than other sites (e.g., schooling, recreation). Arguably this is because the child - as a legal person with the rights that implies - has a complex relationship to the public. This is typically meditated through the interests of the parents, other caregivers, experts, and the state. When the child is a social danger, criminal behaviors present a much easier path for states to intervene directly in the child's behavior.
35. Eric Lotke, "Youth Homicide: Keeping Perspective on How Many Children Kill," Valparaiso Law Review 31 (1997): 395-418, accessed at 66.165.94.98/stories/yh1997.html.
36. Susan Ruddick, Young and Homeless in Hollywood: Mapping Social Identities (New York: Routledge, 1996).
37. See Kent v. United States, 383 US 541 (1966),
38. In re Gault, 387 US 1 (1967)
39. Jolanta Juszkiewicz, Youth Crime/Adult Time: Is Justice Served? (Washington, D.C.: Pretrial Services Resource Center, 2000), www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/ycat/ycat.html;
40. Charles Puzzanchera, "Delinquency Cases Waived to Criminal Court, 1990-1999," OJJDPFact Sheet 4 (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2003), accessed at www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/fs200304.pdf;
41. Anne Stahl, "Delinquency Cases Waived to Criminal Court, 1986-1996," OJJDP Fact Sheet 109 (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999), accessed at www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/fs99109.pdf.
42. See the PR Newswire release, "Santee School Shooting, Columbine - What Next? Professional Forum on Attachment Disorder," sponsored by Heal the Hearts Foundation, forum on March 26-28, 2001, Riverside, Calif., release date March 6, 2001, originally accessed June 17, 2004, at Focus Adolescent Services, www.focusas.com/Attachment.html, now available at www.prnewswire.com/ cgi-bin/micro_stories.pl?ACCT=146101&TICK=DIGW&STORY=/www/story/ 03-06-2001/0001441510&EDATE=Mar+6,+2001.
43. Terry Levy and Michael Orlans, Attachment, Trauma, and Healing: Understanding and Treating Attachment Disorder in Children and Families (Washington, D.C.: CWLA, 1998).
44. Lynn Nybell, "Meltdowns and Containments: Constructions of Children at Risk as Complex Systems," Childhood 8 (2001): 213-30.
45. Attachment Disorder Network, "Why Zebras?" www.radzebra.org/ why.htm (accessed June 14, 2005).
46. Michael Skiba and Reece Peterson, "The Dark Side of Zero Tolerance: Can Punishment Lead to Safe Schools?" Phi Delta Kappan 80 (1999): 372-76, www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kski9901.htm;
47. National Center for Education Statistics, Violence and Discipline Problems in U.S. Public Schools: 1996-1997, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1998), at www.nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=98030.
48. See, for example, Cynthia L. Garza, "Student Suspended for Bringing Small Baseball Bat to School," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 24, 2004, at www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/8706990.htm (link no longer active, originally accessed June 14, 2005).
49. Local 6 News (Central Florida), "Third-Grader Suspended for Kiss on Cheek," Local6.com, February 24, 2005, www.local6.com/news/2874672/detail. html.
50. American Center for Law and Justice, "Illinois Student Suspended from School Broadcast for Saying 'God Bless' On-Air," American Center for Law and Justice Newsroom, January 21, 2004, at www.demossnewspond.com/aclj/ releases/2004%20Releases/godblessstudrls012104.htm.
51. Tom Hutton, "School Board Votes to Expel Student for Possessing Advil on Campus," Legal Clips, National School Board Association, December 2003, at www.nsba.org/site/doc_cosa.asp?TRACKID=&VID=50&CID=488&DID= 32693.
52. Jennifer Smith Richards, "Tails Out, Bags In," Savannah Morning News on the Web, March 27, 2003, at www.savannahnow.com/stories/032703/ LOCindex.shtml.
53. Ruddick, Young and Homeless, 149-54.
54. CNN In-Depth Specials, "Are U.S. Schools Safe?" Interactive map, www.cnn.com/interactive/specials/9904/school.shootings/frameset.exclude. html (accessed June 19, 2005).
55. Skiba and Peterson, "The Dark Side of Zero Tolerance," 372-76.
56. UCCB Children's Rights Centre, UNICEF Canada, and Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children, Children's Rights and Global Citizenship (Sydney, Nova Scotia: University College of Cape Breton, 2003), www.rightsofchildren.ca/PDF/ curriculum.pdf.
57. Studio 2, "Zero Tolerance for Zero Tolerance," aired on CBC Radio One, Toronto, Canada, May 14, 2004.
58. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483 (1954).
59. R. J. Skiba, R. S. Michael, A. C. Nardo, and R. Peterson, "The Color of Discipline: Sources of Racial and Gender Disproportionality in School Punishment," Urban Review 34 (2002): 317-42.
60. End Zero Tolerance, "End Zero Tolerance in Our Public Schools: Student Rights to Remain Silent Card," at www.endzerotolerance.com/ student_rights_card.pdf (accessed June 19, 2005).
61. Foucault, Abnormal, 16.
62. Foucault, Abnormal, 19.