Herald & lantern 3 March *82

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The Corrections System By stwirt n»«h n. fo. Problems Many : Answers Few

The purpose of this series is to enlighten citizens about the realities of the jail, system — which-inCludes more than 4.000 county correctional institutions across the United States. H is apparent from the dismal history of prison systems in the U.S. that there are still no commonly accepted or clear cut solutions about how society should deal with incarcerated persons, For the most part, both the prisoner who is in jail, and the citizen who must pay the cost of his incarceration. are totally dissatisfied, not only with the penal system, but the entire criminal-justice 'System as well. Problems are mqny; valid answers are'fewV One area of agreement is that the crime rate continues to soar being exceedecPonly by increasing costs to pay for it,»and the mounting frustrations of law-abiding citizens who seem to get no relief. « IN CAPE MAY COUNT* IN 1970, the bfficial N.J. Crime Reports for Crime Index Offenses.— the seven most serious crimes (arson has since been added) of homicide, forcible rape, aggravated assault, burglary.

larceny-theft; and motor vehicle theft r- totalcd\ 2,064 reports to police By 1980 this figure had nearly tripWd to 6,889. Sitnilarly, the county penal system recorded an average- - prisoner head count of 37 per day for 1971, while ar Jecade later it had more than doubled to 84 — including fluxua-' tipns of 110 lo 120 prisoners per day during peak summer —months. ■ . I • \ * . \ ■. The topics in this series' will include: • History of punishment in the U.S., *Hi8tory of the Cape May Copnty Jail, •Prisons vs. Jails vs Lockups, •Admission, Daily Routine, Release. •Duties & Responsibilities of Jail Employees. •Prisoner Rights & ^Responsibilities. •Female Prisoners, •Rehabilitation at the County Level. •The Work Release Program. 'Cost of Operating a Jail, •Alcoholics, Addicts & Mental Cases, •Outlbok & Conclusion. - A yormer Lower Township policeman fdnd N.J. State Trooper. Sheriff Fox is now serving his fifth thrbe^year term. His series has been condensed, but he is available for elaboration or group discussion on the topics within his bailiwick. •'*

British Seagull 387 Glad to be Back by Ima Byrd ^ A' couple of city .bjrdsj invited a group oh us to , Philadelphia a few weeks ag° see the 76ers game against the Suns. We hung around the giant Spectrum 1 marvelling at its girth and then when the guards weren't watching, we managed to fly in and up on the. long metal rafters connecting the Ihing together Well. I can tellypu we had a time, out if it wasn't for the skillful playing of Dr. J Irving we might have missed the game entirely. There was just so much going on what with the big flap py bird-like clowns hamming it up and the give-a ways of heaters, shirts, hats and Hamburgers, from the Big Mcl) > Then to fop it off there was this giant block hung right in the middle of the spectrum. Most of us seabirds just couldn't keep our eyes.bff of the darn thing , "DO YOU THINK IT WILL FALL and crush the 76ers-» asked myfritnd Worrybird. We all looked at him fpra moment and then went back to watching the big electronic. screen. .Somewhere beneath them a game was going on /- but we were all bo fascinated with the big board that we just couldn'J watch anything else

Capital Comments * • i Overhauling Juvenile Justice System

. i' by James R. Hurley New Jersey’s outmoded juvenile justice system is headed for a long needed overhaul. * The Assembly already has approved a series of reform measures and I expect the Senate to do the same within the next few weeks. Gov. Thomas Kean has expressed his support for these bills, which are designed to deal with the alarming rise in juvenile crime. Over the past five years, juvenile arrests for violent crimes have rtfcen 15 percent, while adult arrests have increased 3 percent. Clearly, changes are needed to show youths that crime doesn’t pay. THE REFORM PACKAGE would do just that by providing assistance to youths from troubler’ families to steer them away from crime. At the same time, if would toughen the penalties for those youths who continue to commit Crimes and are a menace to society.^ The reforms would provide for a fairer system of justice for juveniles. Repeat offenders and those who commit serious crimes would face longer detention terms, while juveniles who commit petty offenses would not be locked up. Family crisis intervention programs would be established in all 21 counties to provide counseling for troubled youths and their parents. For thtf first time, parents would be held legally responsible for their children’s criminal behavior. A family court would be established with authority to order parents to be involved in the rehabilitation of their children. THE PRESENT LAWS governing juvenile offenders are not adequate to deal with youths who murder or brutally attack elderly women on the streets. They were enacted during a time when the major concerns were vandalism and petty thefts by youths. But now, nearly half those arrested for serious crimes are juveniles. New Jersey laws obviously are inadequate to deal with this surge in juvenile crime. For instance, under current laws, the toughest penalty a juvenile faces for any crime, including murder, is three years detention. The reform bills would provide for a detention sentence of up to 20 years for murder and up to

four years for other serious crimes. THE, JUVENILE JUSTICE rfeform package was two years in the making and represents a bi partisan effort; It should serve as a good example of what can be accomplished when Republicans and Democrats work together With a Republican governor and a Democratic-con-trolled legislature for the next two years, a bi-partisan approach is essential to address the other major concerns of New Jersey residents — the economy, schools, transportation ahd the environment. lames Hurley (R.. Capc-Cumberland) is N.J. Senate Minority Whip.

Wildlife Week Conservation Kits Available

MIDDLE TWP. - In observance of the 45th annual National Wildlife Week, March 14 to 20, the National Wildlife Federation has put together a conservanon education kit leaded with all kinds of information about eagles. This year the theme of the week is We Care About Eagles, honoring the 200th year of the bald eagle as the national bird ACCORDING TO Anne Galli of the Wetlands Institute, the National Wildlife Federation’s state affiliate, the N.J-Federa-

tion of Sportsmen's Clubs, has made available to localteachers and youth leaders the packet of information on eagles. It contains conservation education activities for all ages, posters, wildlife stamps and much more. Teachers or youth leaders may pick up a free packet at the Wetlands Institute on Stone Harbor Rlvd., 9 to 5 Tuesday. Thursday and Saturday. Copies are limited, and will be distributed on a first come-first serve basis. For information call 368-1211.

I mean there it was. games shooting across and a strange, weird voice blasting around the big place asking you to guess the winner. Well, would you believe that after these two dots got finished running acrosil that screen one disappeared first and the word winner flashed across th. face of the block Then they showed hands, electhmic hands, clapping It was too rruJih 1 will fell you this, we birds were mighty infpVessed by the showAt half time some sharp, fast fteppers came dancing out doing some fancy footwork and something they call the jit terhug The crowd loved them WELL. WE -WKHK SO BUSY W ATCHING the girls and watching the screen that we almost forgot there was * another half of a gaitoe’.to be played, Wcury looked at the red seats and the cameras as CBS moved in to film the audience Then he looked the big electronic block and shook his head "Look, the 76ers are standing right under the thing They could be wiped out!" We figured yye'd been quiet long enough so we all moved over in front of Worry and told him tokhut his beak Then we watched as Dr J. sunk another one (lust then one of our young birds got overwhelmed by all the cameras and swooped doWn to get a better look The city birds got worried. ' Look, we were nice enough to invite you here but we told yoy that yon had to stay put on the rafters." One of us volunteers to go after our young friend blit the oity birds said they'd handle it . “We’ll send out pur patrol.” they said. JUST THEN OUR YOUNG BIRD FLEW BACK and took his place on the rafters, but the damage had already been done. A television creW had followed him up and were coming along the rafters to a small area set aside for them. Their cameras pointed straight at iis Down below the people went wild -as they spotted our row of birds There was no time to lose We swnbpbd down into the center of the basketball floor just as Dr. J was cbpiing in for a good one The Sun's wOre caught off guard and several 76ers fell to the floor as we made our get away. The place was in a turmoil and the last I saw was the electronic block -flashing "Birds. Birds, call Hitchcock" It may be a long time before the city birds ever invite us back but most of us don't care. We can see basketball at our local high schools and the kids play a good game without «tT1 th(? jazz and flashing lights. The city can keep their sideshows, we havedhe real thing

EAGER VIEWERS Dan James, left, and Robert Morrier along with Mrs. Bobby Morrier of Wildwood Crest eye Saturday performance of ’Oyster Crackers...' In this scene (right) Shawn Fahy, as Pearl Diamondfudge.

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has a hig stomachache behind a big bowl of oyster crackers and cups of lemonade

Otherwise Solid ‘Oyster Crackers’ Crumbled by Bad Acoustics

Review

by Bob Shiles CAPE MAY - The Jersey Cape Performing Arts Guild production of the children’s musical Oyster Crackers. Undershirts and Mauve Lemonade played a full house of hundreds here at convention hall over the weekend. Unfortunately — for the both the audience and the cast — the acoustics in tHte hall were so horrendous that its’ doubtful those beyond the first few rows could enjoy the hour-long

production

Giving credit where it’s due, the cast and production crew did a tremendous job. considering the environment

in which they had to work.

^J^^wo-act olav. written bv Lavonne Mueller with

music by Larry Dwyer was narrated by an elephant named L A. Punt. Punt was pU*ed hy Ed Bosch, who had just the right amount of silliness about him to keep the children enchanted throughout most of the show THE STORY IS ABOUT A SELFISH mean, little, rich girl named Pearl Diamondfudge who wants to do nothing but sit in bed. eat oyster crackers and drink mauve lemonade. Portrayed by Shawn Fahy. Pearl came across mean but with enough warmth that you couldn't help but feel sorry for her when the today Angels (Lois Taylor and Heidi Hoffman) presented her with amazing experiences that changed her life. When Pearl gets sick, the doctor (Mfcrgo Hunter) orders

though her mother /Carol pavison) gives her designer undershirts 1 ' While the entii*e cajit did a fine job. special mention has to be made of the Oyster Cloister (Rita Willis. Laura Clark. Bob Scales and Lisa Heminway) Their little song and dance number stole the show OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANC ES were chalkH up by Carl Brown as the Door-Snob, and Brenda Reideras Ouch Couch „ Although the production was obviously staged in the hall to permit,a larger audience to attend, perhaps the Guilt! should consider presenting meir next children’s show in a smaller, more suitable environment This was one in