MEMPHIS, Tenn. — According to the County’s Juvenile Justice Consortium, Shelby County tries the most juveniles as adults than any other county in the state of Tennessee combined. As the discussion grows, we heard from a Memphis native who has been directly impacted.
Carlton Brown was charged as an adult at the age of 15. From a side we don’t often hear from, Brown shared his experience on the other side of the justice system.
“When you walk through those doors at 201, you’re scared. You really don’t know. You don’t know,” said Brown.
From the outside of jail, it's a world unknown, but for Brown, 23, it's a world he learned at a young age.
"I ended up in juvenile in 2014. In 2014, they gave me a little baby slap on the wrist. I guess you can call it that. Then, I came back in 2016 and they weren’t playing. They had ended up binding me over as an adult,” said Brown.
He was 15 years old when he was charged as an adult for a violent offense. A judge sentenced Brown to 10 years. He served three in jail and the remainder on probation.
“I felt like my whole life was kind of coming to a slump,” said Brown. “You have to turn yourself into a lion basically. You have to turn yourself into fear nothing … It’s tough in there, especially for a young cat.”
Brown experienced a similar need for toughness before going to jail.
“You’re faced with a lot of challenges in Memphis growing up. This isn’t an easy city to say you’re going to be scot-free on. It’s a lot of negative activity going on around you and that’s what you’re going to attract yourself to because you’re a child,” said Brown.
It was an attraction that caused Brown to lose out on the remainder of his childhood.
“If you get out, your mindset is still at 15/16 years old. Now you have to fight through that and trying not to be a child ... But you never got a chance,” said Brown.
He now wants to help others get a chance. Brown advocates for juveniles to not be tried as adults in cases not involving murder or other serious offenses.
“That’s why the recidivism rate is so high because it’s not an easy challenge. When you do kids like that, they’re going to be misled almost through the rest of their life. It’s not going to be an easy turn for them because they’ve been in the jungle,” said Brown.
He has some solutions he believes would help.
“Why don’t they have anything for the people who are like 16 or 17 instead trying them as an adult off the top? Why not find a place where you can try to rehabilitate them,” asked Brown. “They should have a lot of different activities where more mentors should come out with the kids and get them out of the hood a little bit. Have them see more stuff. Have activities where they can see more than just Memphis also.”
Brown said it’s good to expose youth to opportunities outside their surroundings.
“Nobody else can feel your pain. Nobody else can feel those four walls. Nobody else can feel anything that you’re going through but you, so every decision that you make, it’s going to stay on you. It’s going to stain you.”
Brown participated in the County’s Juvenile Justice Consortium Town Hall Tuesday evening discussing this issue. It's a hope that's growing especially as the County’s D.A., Juvenile Court Judge, and Juvenile Court Clerk positions are up for election this year.