Solomon Osborne said Wednesday he has done many positive things as a County Court and Youth Court judge, and he urged listeners to vote for him so he can continue.
Osborne spoke at a meeting of the Greenwood Voters League.
He was appointed county judge in 2001 by Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and was elected to a full term in 2002. He is opposed in his re-election bid by attorney Leman Gandy.
Youth Court matters take up most of Osborne's time. The court deals with youths who commit offenses that would be crimes if they were adults. He also encounters truants, runaways and youths who need supervision for other reasons. Many are repeat offenders.
"We're trying to implement programs to halt the flow of people from school to the jail," he said.
Under his watch, the Juvenile Detention Center has added educational services, health services, counseling and other offerings, whereas before that it served mainly as a jail, he said.
"When I first became judge, none of these things were being done," he said. "The children were just being locked up and sent to the training school."
Now, students can learn study skills and other things designed to prevent them from dropping out. About 85 percent of the inmates at the penitentiary in Parchman dropped out of high school, he said.
The judge said finding funds for the things he wants to do can be difficult. However, his office has secured grants to encourage education.
For example, 25 computers have been purchased, and a computer lab is in the works. Tutors are available for those who are in school, and dropouts may enroll in a GED program.
"Education is the great equalizer in this country," he said. "If you have an education, you can lead a productive life, you can be a productive citizen and you won't be a burden on the taxpayer."
Another addition, for repeat offenders, is the "Saturday Academy," which was operated as a pilot program. Youths learned how to study, write, give oral presentations and resolve conflicts. Of the 22 initially enrolled, 18 passed.
"I had to teach the classes myself because we didn't have any teachers," Osborne said.
The participants were given homework, and those who didn't complete it had to stay until it was done. Some resisted at first, but "after two or three times, they came in with the lesson done," he said.
There also is "First Saturday," in which students have traveled to Mississippi Valley State University, the civil rights museum in Memphis, and some locations important to black history.
"While we were in Glendora, we had a poetry contest. They recited poems they wrote about Emmett Till," he said. "They did some real good work."
The children often show that they have the required intelligence but just haven't been applying it, he said.
All children at the Detention Center are given drug tests. A drug and alcohol counselor also has been hired, and Osborne is planning to add a youth drug court.
Osborne said he has seen some children as young as 12 or 13 who have been using drugs for several years, and that slows their brain development.
Many don't receive guidance at home or have parents addicted to alcohol or drugs, he said. Others have learning disabilities but don't know it, and the school might not know either, he said. So, often they end up in Youth Court - but there they can be assessed and solutions can be proposed.
Some also go to workshops on behavior modification, he said, because "we get a lot of them who are angry with the world."
