I think the death of Gina Score 10 years ago really got me to start paying attention to politicos in SD. The inept bootcamp juvenile program installed by former governor Bill Janklow really exposed his bullying, his arrogance, his narcissism and ego. I still think to this day that Janklow should have been punished for her death, but as we know with the Randy Scott case, Janklow is teflon. I think I gonna be sick.
Kelo-TV has a story about the Gina Score today.
You can also learn more about institutional abuses of juveniles here.
I don’t get emotional about too many things, but the abuse of children really gets my goat. My thoughts are with the Score family tonight.
I remember this and share your sympathy. She never got the chance to eat 100 eggs and be idolized by George Kennedy. There was teflon then. One HP officer covered up the fact that Janklow was legally drunk and driving. Fortunately, state government is less corrupt now. However, city government needs major exposure and reform. I suppose I’ll have to endure some waterboarding before they concede.
She’s a hero comparable to those in the military who fought or are fighting for constitutional guarrantees.
I want to know why there are no juvenile facilities named in her honor. I want to know why there are no awards for juvenile rehabilitation named in her honor. I want to know why there are no state juvenile programs named in her honor.
If it is her family’s choice, that’s great. I hope it it not because the state is trying to forget it’s horrible crime.
I think Score is a hero, and I don’t believe she died in vain. If anything good came from it is that the state ended the idiotic boot camp program and the pain and suffering inflicted on these juveniles. It is unfortunate though that the man(?) who was ultimately responsible for these chain of horrific events still walks free and has a law license. Disgusting.
She was a martyr.
Janklow was good at getting things done, but wasn’t getting the right things done. He believed that because the Marines straightened his ass out, a little boot camp would be good for juvenile offenders. The boot camps believed (unlike any branch of the military today) that their inmates could be made to run and run until they were totally exhausted and punish those who fell out. They forgot, however, that the military first ensures that the young people they take in are physically able to train to the point of utter exaustion without dying, and that they get enough water to stay reasonably cool.
Many heads should have rolled in that whole debacle, but too few did.
I gotta go with Dude on this one…she wasn’t (isn’t) a hero, she is a martyr. She shoudln’t have anything named after her just as we shouldn’t rename bridges for those who crash into them. Hundreds or even thousands of kids suffered just as she did, but the end result for them was different, so should they be ignored and just treated as another number while she is honored and praised?
Was it her fault she died? Obviously not, and changes needed to be made in the system, but the core concepts with the boot camps were still ok, and the entire knee-jerk reaction to the event was totally overblown.
How many kids did that school help straighten out over the decades it was open? How many students left there with a sense of respect and went on to contribute to society in a positive manner instead of continuing the downward spiral that sent them there in the first place? How many decided they liked a little structure in their lives and decided a life in the military was the life for them – and they are now happily defending our nation knowing it is their choice?
I’m not typcially a Janklow defender, but he wasn’t the one yelling at her or telling her she had to continue. He didn’t refuse water for her, he didn’t refuse medical attention. He might have setup the framework for the school itself, but the framework wasn’t the issue.
There are a lot of reasons people can dislike Janklow, but I don’t think this is really a justification to think he should be behind bars.
“How many kids did that school help straighten out over the decades it was open?”
Oh, I agree, some of those kids were so bad, there really was no other rehab for them, but it was a small percentage. If I remember correctly, Score got in trouble for shoplifting, she should have gotten community service not boot camp. It wasn’t like she was dealing crack. The punishment did not fit the crime, that was the problem with boot camp, they sent everyone there regardless of there crime. There is different kinds of rehab for different types of crime. The system was flawed and Janklow knew it and ignored it. Her death was inevitable, plain and simple and the writing was on the wall. Why do you think Janks and Barnett went to Plankinton in the middle of the night to tell all the witnesses to STFU? That was proven in the press. He knew he created a system that didn’t work for everyone and ignored it, normal operational procedure for Janks. He should have stood trial with the two ladies that ran Score to death and received the same treatment/punishment. It was HIS program and he was proud of it.
I heard many troubling things from people close to Janks after the incident that I cannot discuss here. But I will say this, he knew he screwed up and covered his tracks.
I hope her family reads these unsolicited impartial posts. Varied perspectives seem to come together on this one. Martyr is a stretch but if that is how she must be labeled to make sure this never happens again, so be it.
but the core concepts with the boot camps were still ok,
You’re kidding right? SD started a Boot Camp Program when other states were shutting them down because they don’t work. The reason Janklow started the program was because it was cheaper than getting the kids the help they needed. It wasn’t about the most effective treatment option. It is always about money. The things we hear from government is SD is not what is best for the most in need- it’s about cheap treatment and tax rebates. Just once I would like to hear a politician in SD say we want the best educated kids in the world not the lowest property taxes (or NO INCOME TAX).
Decades???!!??? The boot camp was opened in 1996 and closed for good in 2003…I hardly consider that “decades”.
GK- More proof it didn’t work.
That was only one of the “boot camps”. I know there is another in the hills (Custer?) and perhaps more I’m unaware of. They have been around for a long time and I know of several kids who went to them and came back changed for the better.
I will agree that the punishment needs to fit the crime however. Maybe shoplifting is deserving of a lesser punishment/rehabilitation, but without knowing all the specifics I can’t really say.
I realize these are “kids” so that changes things, but I’m the type who thinks we need to be tough on crime and tough of criminals. The therapy sessions and ego stroking only goes so far, so there comes a time that a little discipline can and does make a difference.
Clearly in this case the concepts were applied improperly – and I’m sure there is a lot I don’t know that would upset me greatly, but I still argue the concept and structure of a boot camp does work. I’d really like to see a study of recidivism rates for juvinile offenders who run through a boot camp as opposed to those who run through the traditional “lock em’ up” system.
In my very personal and unscientific observations I’d say the boot camp approach is much more successful over the long run.
Costner, you’re the lone wolf howling into the wind. The camps were closed down – nationwide – because they were a dismal failure in youth rehabilitation.
When I said “I’d really like to see a study of recidivism rates for juvinile offenders who run through a boot camp as opposed to those who run through the traditional “lock em’ up†system.” that is what I meant… real numbers are more interesting than smoeone telling me something is a “dismal failure”.
And I happen to know there are plenty of youth correctional boot camps still in operation, so I have no idea where you get the idea they were all shut down.
I was in Plankinton when Gina Score died i was a boy in the state training school what happened there was a horrible case of cruelty and neglect. All programs there had problems the Juvenile prison that was on the same campus had inmates ranging in ages of 10to 20 pepersprayed stripsearched four pointed to beds and more. The STS also had PT (physical training) where you would run up to 3 miles do sit ups and push ups and various other excersice. The worst cruelty I saw there was soft restraints that unruly students had to wear everywhere they went including school,chow and pt. Just imagine your 10 to 15 year old in leather shackles walking around let alone running around, and tell me again why a place like that is a good kind of place to put kids. Oh and just so you know there was a newspaper article written by the mother of a kid that was locked up there mentioning the low success rate of the program and it was less then 10% meaning the other 90% were repeat offenders. As was I being I had a second trip to the JP/sts 6 months after release before a trip to the patrick henrey boot camp in custer and the west farm in Sioux falls RIP Gina Score