South Dakota Boot Camp

Colonel Mark Snyder holding a restraining board used on the cadets at the boot camp

Pt. 1: 'Boot Camp' Draws Fire After Girl's Death

(14.4 | 28.8) -- Gina Score was 14 when she was sent to a new, military-style boot camp for stealing money from other kids' lockers to buy candy. Less than a week after she arrived at the South Dakota juvenile detention facility, she was dead -- from exhaustion and heatstroke after trying to complete a forced 2.7-mile run in the midsummer heat for which she was physically unfit. Critics say the military-style atmosphere encouraged excessive harshness from guards, but backers find no fault with the philosophy behind such camps. Score's death has meanwhile sparked several lawsuits and a fierce debate over how the states should handle troubled youths.

Pt. 2: Juvenile Facilities Investigation

(14.4 | 28.8) -- In part two of our look at juvenile facilities in South Dakota, NPR's Madeleine Brand reports that after the death of 14 year old Gina Score, others came forward with charges of abuse. These allegations are the basis for half a dozen lawsuits and 2 federal investigations. (8:50)


Related Links

Prison Activist Resource Center
www.prisonactivist.org

The Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
www.cjcj.org
(Specifically youth issues)

The Beat Within
www.pacificnews.org/yo/beat
(A journal by incarcerated youth)