Georgia Mae Williamson

Thank you for allowing me to present my family’s story today. My name is Georgia Mae Williamson and my grandson, whom I will call “D,” was sentenced to juvenile life without the possibility of parole, a sentence of six years in a maximum secure-care prison. My grandson is an example of a child who fell through the cracks of the juvenile justice system.

D had always been physically and emotionally fragile. He was a sensitive child who required protection. We were shocked when D admitted his behavior which we later found out lacked evidence. We thought D definitely needed help, and our family turned to the system.

D’s parole officer advised the court that he had never seen such a well-behaved child and encouraged the court to impose an alternative sentence to the maximum. The victim’s mother also asked the court not to impose juvenile life. I personally begged the court to find some alternative. D had never been in trouble before, especially with the law.

When D first arrived at Jetson, he received no psychological counseling. It’s common knowledge that sexual abuse left unchecked and untreated, spirals into an infinite cycle. Needless to say, maximum security incarceration was not the place for this child.

Worse, D was terrorized, threatened, and physically abused by guards at Jetson. On June 3, 2003, after being assaulted by several guards, another guard forced D to his knees and threatened him sexually. After D called home, reporting the incident to me, I called the warden, who said he would investigate. Later that evening, my grandson was threatened by three officers, who told him that if I did not back off, D would be “thrown to the Wolves,” referring to the dormitory containing youths incarcerated for the most serious offenses. He said the guards could no longer protect him from the others. The colonel later called me at home telling me that we would be sorry if we pursued an investigation.

The Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL) investigated D’s case, and were able to file an emergency motion to get D out of Jetson. We then had hearings to discover the truth. D took and passed a polygraph test. He was telling the truth. The guards who terrorized my grandson refused to take the same test.

The New Testament taught us to forgive the sinner and love the youth, but the state of Louisiana still practices Old Testament retribution. I’m ashamed to say our state still sacrifices the youth.

I understand the difficulties of changing our system. But when a scared, harmless15-year old boy is thrown to the wolves, behind razor wire, dragging shackles, living in fear, far from home, it will turn him into nothing but a serious criminal or a ghost of the child who once gave our family such joy.

Please prevent other sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters of Louisiana from falling through the cracks. Fix our broken system so at least when our youth are taken they receive therapy, close to home in small and safe facilities.

Thank you.