The Mass Incarceration of Children:

Florida locks up kids and throws away the key.

Deon Gilchrist is one of the 2,638 currently incarcerated in the state of Florida for crimes he committed as a child. He is also one of those children locked up with an excessive, disproportionate punishment and no relief in sight.

Deon is yet another example of how Florida locks up kids and throws away the key, violates their human rights, violates the U.S. Constitution, and disproportionately punishes children to decades in prison.

Here is Deon's story:

"

   Hello, my name is Deon Gilchrist and I have been in the Florida Department of Corrections since I was just a teen. 17 years later, I am still here to tell my story.

    I come from a well-balanced household and was well off than most kids in my neighborhood because I was raised by both my parents. I never had issues as a child being a troublemaker of any sort growing up. I played sports in school and even signed up with recruits in high school to become a part of our great military (Marine Corps) after I completed school. Life was perfect for me as a child growing up until one day I started to drift off and wanted to hang around crowds and environments that weren't positive for me. Being that my mother birthed 3 other kids and all of them passed away, my mother was very overprotective of me, and it was hard for me to even breathe. There came a time in my life when my parents couldn't control me and I started to follow the crowd doing drugs, having early sex, not focusing on the positive things, and not embracing the morals that were instilled in me as a child to everyday life.

    When I was 17 teen years old me and my cousin, who will be released from prison in two years, went on a robbery crime spree, not because we had to seek crime, but just because we were teenagers with nothing to think about. Now that I am 35 years old, my mindset on life is totally different. I was sentenced to a 25-year term in prison, and in my eyes my sentence was harsh and unreasonable, because kids really think and react to things differently than adults.

    Now that I reflect and analyze the poor decisions I made early in my life that has caused me to spend almost 2 decades in prison, I seek and cry for help, not only for me but for other kids. I don't want them to have to ever experience what I have and the only way that will happen is for laws to change for first-time offenders with non-homicide charges in Florida. Furthermore, programs got to start being offered for kids instead of always a jail or prison cell. Prison sometimes damages kids' minds more than when they first even enter the building.

    Life is about building and making society a safe place, but to build there has to be opportunity. I use myself as an example, the system has taken so much from me, but I understand change comes from within and this place has made me better. America stands for opportunity, so I am asking the world to seek change for people like me to be given a second chance. We must make changes throughout communities to educate kids on the impact of their decisions and prevent their life from going downhill. Everybody in this world makes mistakes, but it's not the mistake u make, it's what u do after to turn that mistake into a positive outcome. My situation has elevated and turned me into a productive and positive person, I just want to live life and seek some goals that must be achieved before I leave this earth.

Thank u for listening to my story......

  Deon Gilchrist, DC#C01041

                       "

Deon's Least Permissible Sentence = 9.7625 years

Deon's Actual Punishment = 25 years in prison