Matthew and the Judge: Juvenile Court Diary
Series: Prison Diaries
From: Radio Diaries
Length: 00:15:56
More from Radio Diaries
Going Home: Cristel's Diary
(00:20:05)
From: Radio Diaries
At the age of 15, Cristel viciously attacked a rival classmate with a razor blade.
Serving 9 to 5: Correctional Officers' Diary
(00:19:18)
From: Radio Diaries
Sergeant Furman Camel is retiring after 27 years.
Doing Time: John's Diary
(00:18:28)
From: Radio Diaries
John Mills, a 21-year-old inmate, is serving seven to nine years.
The Plane That Flew Into the Empire State Building
(00:11:47)
From: Radio Diaries
On the morning of July 28, 1945 a B-25 bomber left Massachusetts and headed to New York City on a routine ferry mission. Lost in the fog over Manhattan, Captain William F. ...
Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair: A Granddaughter's Search for the Truth
(00:22:59)
From: Radio Diaries
In 1951, Willie McGee was executed in Mississippi's traveling electric chair for raping a white woman. Six decades later, his granddaughter is on a quest to unearth ...
Mexico '68: A Movement, A Massacre and the 40-Yr Search for the Truth
(00:22:25)
From: Radio Diaries
In the summer of 1968, students in Mexico began to challenge the country's authoritarian government. But the movement was short-lived, lasting less than three months. It ...
Becoming Nelson Mandela (New Story)
(00:12:00)
From: Radio Diaries
A portrait of Nelson Mandela in the years before he was sent to prison
Mandela Introduction
(00:01:01)
From: Radio Diaries
Introduction by Nelson Mandela to the series, Mandela: An Audio History
Related Pieces
Piece Description
One year ago, Judge Jeremiah, a Rhode Island juvenile court judge, and Matthew, a 16-year-old repeat offender, were given tape recorders. During that time, 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. NOTE: A year and a half later, our friend and diarist 18-year-old Matthew Omisore was killed. We put together a remembrance for NPR that aired on February 27th.
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-...
Read the full transcript
Related Website
Of 6 purchasers of this piece...
- 5 also bought:
City X (00:22:33) - 5 also bought:
- 5 also bought:
Melissa in New Haven: Teen Mom (00:11:49) - 4 also bought:
Juan in Laredo: Looking at the Rio Grande (00:10:00) - 4 also bought:
Transom Editors
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