Australia Shocked: Prison System Fails Indigenous Teenager Yet Again
A coroner in Western Australia has called for the closure of Unit 18—a youth wing of an adult prison—after 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd died there. The report cites 'long-standing failures' in the justice system. For Indigenous Australians, the 'long-standing' nature of these failures has a rather specific timeline, conveniently dating back over two centuries, not just the last few fiscal quarters.
One might wonder if these are 'deficiencies' or, perhaps, features of a system designed to disproportionately incarcerate and neglect Indigenous youth. The report recommends an inquiry into how Unit 18 was established. Perhaps an inquiry into the entire carceral system's historical relationship with First Nations peoples, and the politicians who fund it, would be more illuminating than
scrutinizing a single unit. How many 'inquiries' does it take before 'deficiencies' are finally recognized as systemic violence?