m
3w L
' - By Jcrrell W.Jones,
NNPA 1st Vice President 3,
(Second in teriei of 8 article t)
,' Recently a delegation of 18 Black Preii repieientativet,
edjucaton, phyiiciant, ministers, and others spent tw weeks
touring Cuba. This is the second of a 8-part report. 'ones is
owner of the Milwaukee Courier and a radio station. '
HAVANA, Cuba
Despite being under Socialist
rule, with the fallacies an un
certainties Americans have
been taught pervade this
system, the better than 10
million Cubans who make up
this Communist country in
the Caribbean appear to our
delegation to have complete
faith and confidence in their'
government, particularly its
judicial process.
The judicial system, we
were told, is popular at
every level - from top
echelon government officials
to the peasants working in
the field. The primary reasons
for this nearly unquestioned
faith are that all citizens
who are eligible to vote
may have input into the
system by (1) being able
to elect judges, (2) being
able to participate in the
system as judges themselves,
and (3) being able to recall
judges they think aren't
fulfilling the obligations of
the position.
Judges are the final
authority in all criminal and
civil matters here in Cuba
that are taken into court.
Not even Prime Minister
Fidel Castro himself can
overrule a judicial decision,
although a lower court deci
sion may be appealed to a
higher one.
A unique characteristic
of the Cuban judicial sys
tem we observe is the pre
sence of lay - or non-professional
- judges in all
levels of the different
courts. To become a judge
one need not be a lawyer
who has received a formal
education and have an in
Training School Numbers
Aro Doaocsing
RALEIGH - Of the
1.700 children in North
Carolina who were commit
ted to training schools last
year, over one third of them
came from only six coun
ties. The six counties, all with
dense population areas, in
cluded Cumberland (Fayette
ville) with 131 students;
Mecklenburg (Charlotte),
103; Forsyth (Winston-Salem)
and Guilford (Greens
boro), 96 each; New Hanover
(Wilmington), 80 and Wake
(Raleigh). 73.
Admission records show
that the number of children
being sent to training schools
is steadily decreasing. In
1969, 2,100 were committed;
400 less than last year. Since
that time Fountain Training
School has been closed and
there are now six instead of
seven state training schools.
"While we are seeing a
gradual trend to fewer ad
missions," Dr. Dale Johnson,
chief of planning and evalu
ation of the North Carolina
Division of Youth Services,
said, "We are also getting
tougher kids."
Dr. Johnson said that
the decrease can be attri
buted :.o judges diverting
more children to other
resources.
Eighty-five of the
commitments, he said,
were for "breaking of pro
bation." Other offenses,
Isted in order of frequency,
included breaking and enter
ing, shoplifting, assault and
larceny.
pressive string' of degrees '
after his name. He might
be a factory worker, or a
farmer, or a teacher, or
be employed in any occupation.
The People's Supreme
Court - the highest judicial
authority in Cuba - is.
made up of three professional
judges who have been
advanced to that position
based upon judicial and
legal background, and two
nori-professional, or lay
judges who may have served
in a lower court, but who
have had no formal legal
training as such.
In other courts, lay
judges participate on a par
with professional ones. All
judges in the very ground
level courts are non-professional.
Ground level courts
may be compared to county
courts in the United States.
belong to a collective, which
is similar to state bar asso
ciations in the United States.
Lawyers are not required,
our guide continued, to pro
fess a specific political idea
logy, although they must
have earned a degree in
law from an accredited in
stitution of higher learning.
Cubans requiring the ser
vices of a lawyer go to a
collective to select one. The
client pays for legal services
according to established fees.
Clients unable to pay, get
free service just as they do
in the United States.
According to the Cuban
system of justice, there are
many problems in civil
matters where legal represen
tation is not necessary.
Ground level courts are
entrusted to analyze cases
and arrive at a suitable
determination.
Within 24 hours after an
CHAPEL HILL -"Rightly
or wrongly the
generation of Negro writers
to which I belong considered
itself marooned for a number
of years.
"Whether we were right
or not we felt like a voice
crying in the wilderness,"
said Dr. Blyden Jackson,
professor of English at the
University of North Caro
lina at Chapel Hill.
Jackson, who is in his
60s, said until the 1960s
the majority of what Negro
scholars wrote reached a
very limited audience. Only
one or two managed to
catch the ear of the world
around them, he recalled.
Jackson's views are
expressed in "The Waiting
Years," his new book
recently published by
Louisiana State University
Press. The book is a selec
tion of essays written by
Jackson during the last
30 years and provides
what he calls a sort of
penorama of the senti
ments of a group of
writers who like himself
felt they weren't getting
through.
The introductory essay
includes Jackson's personal
reflections upon his gene
ration of Negro writers.
"These men and women
because of their race and
because of the limited
number of whole books
t
. e -
J
":
DR. BLYDEN JACKSON
devoted to critical exami
nation and interpretation
of Negro literature were
neglected," Jackson said.
"Remember, we were
living in a segregated world
and writing about material
that we felt was not reach
ing an extensive audience.
We also felt there was a
tendency to ignore us when
opinions on North Ameri
can literature were circula
ted." But it was more than
just a question of race
Jackson believes. He said
Negro writing, like all
American writing for a
time, had difficulty in
gaining acceptance among
scholars as literature.
A prelude added to
other essays in "The Waiting
Years" retrieves the time at
which easy essay was writ
ten. Jackson deals with
black writings such as the
ghetto novel, the Harlem
Renaissance and the Negro's
image of himself. His other
essays focus on individual
writers like poet Countee
Cullen, novelist Richard
Wright and novalistpoet
Langston Hughes.
"The Waiting Years" is
designed for use in courses
in Negro literature as well
as for courses in American
literature, Jackson said. He
also hopes it will be read
by. those who are not aca
demic at all.
"We have a nation
whose level of literacy is
fairly high and I'd like
to think the public them
selves will be interested in
reading it."
Jackson, who is also
associate dean of the UNC
CH Graduate School, came
here in 1969 following a
seven-year post as dean of
the graduate ' school at
Southern .University in
Louisiana.
He is the co-author of
"Black Poetry in America
and holds a B.A. degree
from Wilberforce University
in Ohio and an M.A. and
Ph.D. from the University
of Michigan.
arrest in Cuba, the accused 1
must be brought to court ff !
iu late uiaigcs. a jjvimmi
is accused of a crime of a I
serious nature, he is kept i
in prison until a trial date, '
which in most instances, is
between 30 and 90 days.'
There is no provision for
bail in such . cases. "All
courts try to punish in an '!)
educational manner for the
entire population," a repre
sentative of the People's ...
Supreme Court where we
visited, told us. "It is a
sentence passed to solve the
case." the implication ap
peared to be that therapeutic
emphasis is placed in sen
tencing persons found guilty
of a crime.
Persons found guilty of
a crime and sentenced to
imprisonment are incarcera
ted in one of two types of
confinement - closed or
open prisons. Those impri
soned for more serious
offenses are sentenced to
closed prisons.
Open prisons, on the
other hand, limit the freedom
of its inmates, but they are
characterized by a lack of
cells and locks. In stead of;
guards such prisoners have'
counselors who work with
them during incarceration.
At eiven times during a
convict s stay in prison, de- .
pending upon his rehabilita
tion, he is permitted to leave
the prison for perhaps eight
to 12 days. A prisoner may
receive up to two months
leave, and departs from
and returns to prison on his
own.
When a convict is freed,
he is assured a job, likely,
one he trained for in prison.
All lawyers in Cuba,
our guide explained, must
As a result of this official
policy, recidivism is lower
ft "v,Yn Yj . V iiiiiiwn.it
0
0
(I
0
CUBA'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM - Following a visit to a cigar factory in Cuba (top), the American delegation was
taken to the Peoples' Supreme Court. Bottom photo, left to right: Dr. Rafael Cisneros, president of the Civil Court; Frank
Vales, interpreter; Dr. Hector Caneciano, president of the Military Court; Jerrel W. Jones, NNPA 1st vice president and publisher
of the Milwaukee Courier, who is author of the article; and Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett, NNPA president and editor-publisher
of the San Francisco Sun Reporter.
than in America. Victims
of crime are provided for
or indemnified through
action by the courts, as
are the families of persons
convicted of a crime, re
gardless of the length of a
sentence.
Of particular interest in
the Cuban criminal justice
system is the law that cnu
dren cannot be punished for
a crime. Those up to age
16, who commit offenses,
are sent to special centers
which are not prisons. The
purpose of the centers is
to provide re-education and
not punishment.
Indeed, we were told
the philosophy of the entire
criminal justice system in
Cuba is to seek out and
attempt to eradicate the
causes of crime, rather than
merely deal with its effects.
It's a sort of "ounce of
prevention is worth a pound
of cure" approach that dic
tates that once the reason
for criminal activity is singled
out and dealt with, the need
to commit criminal acts will
be lessened, and consequently
crime itself will tend to
decline.
Next week: Cuba's Housing
and Economic Development
by Charles E. Belle, San
Francisco Sun-Reporter.
X lCXPltOF AMBUSHES BOOK
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