Matthew and the Judge: Juvenile Court Diary
From: Radio Diaries
Series: Prison Diaries
Length: 33:41
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In 2001, Radio Diaries gave both Judge Jeremiah, a Rhode Island juvenile court judge, and Matthew, a 16-year-old repeat offender, tape recorders. Judge Jeremiah released Matthew early, for good behavior. Two weeks later, Matthew was arrested again for selling drugs. Through their diaries, Matthew and the judge tell the same story from two different sides of the bench.
A year and a half after this story aired, our friend and diarist 18-year-old Matthew Omisore was killed.
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Piece Description
In 2001, Radio Diaries gave both Judge Jeremiah, a Rhode Island juvenile court judge, and Matthew, a 16-year-old repeat offender, tape recorders. Judge Jeremiah released Matthew early, for good behavior. Two weeks later, Matthew was arrested again for selling drugs. Through their diaries, Matthew and the judge tell the same story from two different sides of the bench.
A year and a half after this story aired, our friend and diarist 18-year-old Matthew Omisore was killed.
Broadcast History
This piece originally aired on NPR through All Things Considered.
Transcript
Matthew and the Judge: Juvenile Court Diary
Prison Diaries
Produced by: Joe Richman All Things Considered (NPR)
1/16/2001
LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: For the past 14 years Judge Jeremiah S. Jeremiah has been chief judge of the Rhode Island Family Court. Part of his job is to decide whether a juvenile offender is sent back home to his family, placed in foster care, sent to a halfway house, or like sixteen-year-old Matthew, incarcerated at the Rhode Island Training School. Matthew and Judge Jeremiah were both given tape recorders, they kept audio diaries over the course of the year, telling the same story but from opposite sides of the bench.
MATTHEW: My name?s Matthew. I?m locked up. I got incarcerated for the first time at the age of 13. Did a couple months, got out. Stayed out for a little while, got arrested again. Did some more time. Got out. Came back. I?m still here.
[Hear walkie-...
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Posted on December 18, 2003 at 12:52 PM | Permalink
Review of Matthew and the Judge: Juvenile Court Diary
It's a privilege to be so deep inside someone's head and in this case,
inside the heads of two people on opposite sides of "the bar." I like the
way the material is organized. We meet Matthew first and get a sense of him
before we actually know everything he's done wrong, and we get to know the
judge a little before we hear them together. It's very moving to hear the judge's journey from compassionate hope to resigned disappointment, and to hear Matthew's parallel journey from hope to despair. I wanted to put my head down and cry as this piece drew to its close. Knowing Matthew is dead makes the close of this piece that much more heartbreaking. It's beautiful, respectful and could air any time, but certainly when there is big news on youth crime. sl