this is a maximum security facility. these kids will do anything they can if they think that they can get away with it or if they think they can get out. >> if he smokes marijuana. it's because his friends give him marijuana to smoke. >> morris isn't responsible for anything it's everybody else's fault. >> i was a high-ranking gang member. and people still try to look at me in their way. >> what i'm saying is i'm trying to get an agreement for you to get you out of here. you admit to one or the other. you don't want to admit to marijuana. admit to resisting arrest.

>> i don't want to be spending my life incarcerated. >> calm down. >> all right do you want to get out of here? just listen to me and do what i'm saying and we'll get you out of here. >> i just want to go home and be with my daughter. that was the whole thing i was supposed to do. >> how old is your daughter? >> three. friday i was supposed to go to my girlfriend's to see my daughter. it was like 2:00 in the morning that's when my ride came. cops was chilling on the end of the block and then he tell

everybody get out of the car. so we all get out the car, put our hands on the car, and like he come back. he like, who weed is this? he was like you're going to jail for possession of marijuana i'm like how can i go to jail for something that wasn't in my possession? you can't sit three people down and walk out a room and come back and bag of weed sitting there and you just put it on everybody. >> i wasn't there. i can't tell you. >> i had somebody -- >> and you're telling me this is money that you've earned in one week, two weeks, or -- >> no that's money i had for like three weeks. i had more. i don't know what happened to it. one of the officers ripped me off when they were slamming me on the ground. >> eventually, you're going to do right. >> i am doing right. >> i know, but you're right here with us again. again. >> that's not my fault. >> this is not the first time that roddick's been here. usually when a child comes in

more than once, it's a high percentage that he will be a repeat offender again. >> i've been here like three or four times. i did a whole year in boy's school. that's why i'm so nervous right now because i don't want to go back there. like it ain't nowhere that somebody will want to be. >> more than 3,000 kids pass through the juvenile courts in lake county indiana each year. here consequences can range from a sleepless night in detention to the ultimate punishment for kids who keep coming back, boys school. >> going to indiana's boy's school or girl's school is the most restrictive placement or restrictive punishment i could give them. because you lose your freedom. you're in a prison. it's the worst thing i can do to them. >> some people it takes a big problem just to really open they eyes. that's just like for me, like i went to boy's school, you know, and it calmed me down a lot. if you read my reports and everything about me, you would be like why would he be here now when we doing so good. like, i believe boy's school changed me.

>> he's done so much better than in the past. he was failing his classes. that changed. grades started improving. he starred working and unfortunately, when he hung around with the wrong crowd and you get blamed sometimes for things that you don't even do. >> big problem it's something i really didn't do this time. >> so they're picking on you? >> because i'm black and i look like a thug and i wear jewelry and i got money in my pocket. >> i don't think that's what it is. >> that's what it is. they think i'm a drug dealer because look at all that, man. come on, they think everybody sells drugs when they're black. it's not even like that. i work hard for everything that i got. and everything i accomplished. >> it's your job to prove them wrong. >> that's what i do. i got a check for every dollar. no drug money. >> you have so much potential. you were doing so much better. you were doing really good. >> you're saying it like i'm honestly like out there like getting in trouble like -- >> i don't know what happened i

don't know what happened. i don't know if you were out there trying to get in trouble. that's what the court system is there for to determine whether you're guilty or innocent. the fact of the matter is that he's been here more than once. so it is hard for us to believe when they're repetitive offenders. >> thousands of kids filter through the lake county juvenile center and each one of them has a story typically about their innocence. >> this is a maximum security facility. these kids will say anything they can if they think that they can get away with it or if they think that they can get out. >> luckily for the intake and detention officers at lcjc, figuring out whether the kids are guilty or not is not part of the job description. >> there's no reason for us to know it. every kid is here to be treated equally and fairly. that's up to the courts and judges to deal with the crime as aspect of it. >> after 26 years, you've heard so many stories. i've had so many kids tell me so many stories and, of course, there are those that seem very genuine. could it be a game? definitely.

i've been burned before but there are other people in the courtroom that help me make decisions say the counselor that was present, the probation officer helped me. and listening to both sides really lays out for you what each kid has done or hasn't done and the good and bad points. at that point you're in court. it's the end of the road here. now it's put up or shut up. you might as well do it now and tell the truth. >> did you have any problems with him? >> no other than he gave me the wrong name. >> and you're not going to charge him with false -- you've done that before, morris. you've already had charges of lying to police officers. it's better to be honest. so he was in somebody's apartment or just in the vicinity of the apartment? >> he and several of his friends were out smoking marijuana on the front porch of this apartment complex. >> are you high right now the? no. were you smoking marijuana today? >> no. >> he tells me he wasn't smoking. >> there was about seven of them

out there. >> i'm just going to have the nurse look at him real quick to determine that he's not under the influence. they found him today because he was smoking marijuana with his friends and they ran all their names at first morris was lying about his identity because he knew he had a warrant. >> you didn't take any drugs? >> you why are your eyes like that? >> liking what? >> all slanty and red. >> they're red? >> they're red. >> we're going to need medical clearance. we can't accept him like this. >> she believed that he was under the influence of marijuana. >> all right. we'll be back. >> thank you. >> so prior to him being admitted to our facility, he will require a medical clearance. so merrillville police department is taking him to the hospital where they're going to conduct a drug test. so positive for marijuana? >> yeah.

but we knew that was going to happen. >> mm-hmm. do you feel any of the effects of marijuana still? no? >> he was released off of house arrest in april of this year. and then he failed to come to his court date in july. so he didn't appear in court. his mother did, his counselors did, his probation officer did, but morris was on runaway status. why didn't you go to court on the 24th? when everybody else did. >> i was scared. >> you were scared. did you get a chance to talk to your probation officer prior to going to court? >> my probation officer, he was talking about sending me a place where i didn't know. that's why i didn't go to court. because they said they were going to send me to placement for two years. >> the indiana juvenile courts have options other than sending young offenders to juvenile prison. kids can also be placed in a variety of rehabilitation facilities known as placement. for morris, his probation officer was recommending an extended placement in a facility where he can learn to manage his anger problems.

>> i can't control my anger. i've been angry all my life. i was here because me and my mom got into it and i punched a hole in the wall. >> but it makes it worse when you don't appear in court. now you present yourself as a flight risk. do you understand that? you just make it worse for yourself if you run away from your problems. >> i remember back like five years ago my grandma told me, you keep frowning your face going to be stuck like that. >> wherever you go, we're coming. if they send you far, we're coming there too. >> can you pass a drug screen today? >> i believe i can. >> what do you mean you believe you can?

for years, msnbc has been documenting the tragic stories that unfold in america's

juvenile justice system with extraordinary access from the indiana supreme court, we've been allowed to take our cameras inside a world where they are, by law, generally forbidden. >> i've been coming to lake county juvenile since like, three oh five. one of them years. been coming here for a long time. >> 17-year-old rodrick is back in lake county juvenile after being arrested for marijuana possession and resisting arrest. according to rodrick and those overseeing his face, he had been on a good straight and narrow path, working towards becoming an electrician, covering up his gang tattoos and preparing for the arrival of his second child. >> i got no time for no gangs, no nothing. i know you don't want your son living the same lifestyle you live. >> when i got out of boot camp and found out i supposedly had a child it changed me. i got something else to live for. i just can't live for like gang banging. i was just going to go back to

school and complete this last year and get on with my life. >> so you ready to tell me it you ready to leave the streets alone downward? >> rodrick insists he is innocent. he says the marijuana was found in a car near where he was standing, not on him and that it is definitely not his. >> my probation officer she told me like a couple times i been like one of her best people. if i was doing so good, why would i let some marijuana mess up my life? >> a lot of the kids that come here they're repeat offenders. core of them you lose. they end up dead, burned up on the railroad tracks, murdered. just random gunfire. if you can change one child, then you made a difference. >> these are kids who have seen things and gone through things certainly you know, beyond what most of us have ever experienced. so what i try and do is getting is the court to recognize that these are still kids and kids

who have made mistakes, maybe more than a lot of us are used to but they are able to learn and rehabilitate. so my hope and goal with all of these kids is that the system works. and that we get them the help they need so they can go on and at least live a productive life. >> i want to talk to you a little bit about what happened, then more specifically about our strategies go in going to court tomorrow in achieving hopefully what it is you want and that's getting out of here and going home. >> i want a lawyer. it's not fair for how you try to put something on me that's not even mine. >> well, it sounds to me like what happened with you is being in the wrong place at the wrong time. >> that's what i see but a lot of people not going to see that. they will know just because i've been in trouble before, that's not going to help me. because i've been in trouble already. >> that's what we're talking about. i want to be able to distinguish what happened before versus all the progress that you made. >> now that i'm sitting here for nothing, it make me feel even worse that like why do i got to

go through this, like. when you try to do something good, it's like bad things come to you to stop you from doing good things. but you know, i ain't going to let this stop me. i'm still going to go to school to be an electrician, still going to take care of my kids and i'm still going to be me. >> so the point is, they weren't your drugs. they weren't on you. you didn't know those drugs were in the car. >> i didn't know they was in the car. >> when the police came, your buddy took off. you stayed. >> if i don't have anything, what's my reason to run? you know. i should have went in the house. i wanted to do that but i'm not that type of person, you know. because i want to show people, like i'm not no bad person. that's why i went back and just talked to him. but he got aggressive with me you know. for no apparent reason. then he thought i was an adult because i got a nice gold chain. you know i came here in nice clothes. he think i was a drug dealer. >> the number one goal i would have for any of these kids is they never end up in jail in the adult department of corrections.

that's the ultimate goal is that these kids learn their lesson and never have to face a judge who's worried about how long do we lock this kid up for. >> i'm just going to pick myself back up. that's it. that's all i can do. i don't mean to cry but you know i'm just hurt right now. >> that's okay. this is not a place you want to be. like i said, our job is to get you out. the more stuff you can focus on of the reasons why you shouldn't be in here and you should be out taking care of your child, those are the things that we're going to want the court to hear about tomorrow. rod, you've convinced me that you're certainly on the right track with things. now our job is to convince the judge tomorrow. >> you do need some help with your anger. i don't think you're crazy but i think something inside is bothering you. what you think? i know mommy. but it's time to let the new kitchen get some sleep.

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last time morris was arrested, it was for damaging his mother's house in a fit of rage. upon being released, he ran away from home and failed to show up for his hearing. he was picked up yesterday for

smoking marijuana. and will soon have to face the judge. but right now, he must face his mom. >> so i can get out tomorrow? >> i don't know. do you think you should? why? you didn't do anything? you didn't go to court. >> i know. i was scared. >> you were scared? >> because they said they were going to give me two years in placement. >> you should have just gone to court. >> i'm going to court now. >> uh-huh. you don't have a choice. they told me they took you to the hospital. you test positive for marijuana. so you been smoking huh? >> i don't know. >> you don't know? what you smoking that for? >> for stress. >> you feel like you need something to calm you down? that's what you should have been telling the counselor and the therapist if that's how you feel. that's what i'm talking about, the things you're telling me, you need to tell them. you may have a chemical imbalance. who knows? there's medicine for that. and people are not crazy who

take it. >> i told people. they didn't come help. >> how do you know? you can't go on with a negative train of thought. what makes you get angry like that? >> just how people do. >> even when people don't -- when things don't go your way, you stay angry. >> that's what i'm saying. being in here is going to make it worser and worser. i can feel it right now. >> you keep telling yourself it's going to get worse, then it is. >> i keep punching walls, mom. >> punching it for what? >> i don't know. >> have you been praying? why you crying? >> cause i'm crazy. >> you're what? >> i'm going crazy. >> you feel like you're going crazy? >> i know i'm crazy. >> you are not. i hate to see you like this. who do you want me to bring to court?

nobody, just me? can i tell you something? i love you to death. but you do feed some help with your anger. some professional help. and i don't think you crazy. you about i think something inside is bothering you. what you think? >> i want to be with my family. >> you want to be with your family? then you can be with your family. wherever you go, we're coming. and if they send you far, we coming there, too. okay? >> i feel different when i cry. i ain't cried in a long time. >> it's good to cry sometime. it relieves stress. there's nothing wrong with crying. there's nothing wrong.

>> after spending a worrisome weekend in juvenile detention, rodrick prepares for his monday morning court date by meeting with his probation officer. while his mother discusses strategy with his court-appointed therapist. he will go into court with a team on his side but his long record will also speak loudly to judge bonaventura. >> this today is your detention hearing. the judge that's going to hear your case is going to look at if there's probable cause to believe that you committed the acts of possession and the act of resisting. >> i feel like i've been working so hard, but like, and this is the first downfall i had since i been home. >> i know. >> i don't want to mess up everything that i've been trying to accomplish. because you know i've been doing too good, miss sarah even from school to being outside. >> and you're the one that said to me, remember what you said to me. >> you'd be on probation. it's going to help me out. that's what we did, right. >> but the biggest thing that

he's done that the judge is going to commend him on is removal of his gang tattoos. >> yeah, he covered it up. >> yeah. so i mean that's an admission that he's turning his life around. he doesn't want the gang style anymore. he doesn't want the gang life. that was a lot to give up, his respect, his authority, his position within the gang. that's all gone. >> it's just i was at the wrong place at the wrong time. police was like where we found some marijuana. i was like well, it's not mine. he was like somebody got to go to jail for this. >> i told him some of the stuff i can't figure out for you no more. you get to a certain age, you got to do it for yourself. >> so what you're saying is like 90% of the time, 99% of the time, he's fine? >> he could be outside at 2:30 in the morning, there's not much outside to do at 2:30 in the morning. >> right. but that 1%. can bring him in here. one percent will say i'm going to go out at 2:30 in the morning. >> it's consequences. >> like i said, we'll go to

court and talk to the judge and let her know how you've been doing but she's going to make that final decision. all we can tell her since you've come home up till now how you've been doing. that's a good report. that's not a bad report. we'll see what she has to say and we'll go from there. okay? >> thank you, sarah. >> all right. >> at today's hearing rodrick and morris will learn if they get to go home with their parents or if they must remain detained in lake county juvenile while they await their next court hearing. judge mary beth bonaventura will make the decision. >> there's two reasons why you order a child detained whether he's a danger to himself or others or there's an unlikelihood that he'll come back to court for the second hearing. so if you make the decision that they are a danger, you detain them, and if you find that they're not a danger then you release them to the parent. >> brown. >> right now, i feel like i'm going to go home. like my probation officer for how good i been doing since i been home from boy's school. so i may go home today.

hopefully. >> you ready, your honor? right this way, rodrick. stay to your left, young man. go stand next to your attorney. >> y'all supposed to be helping me. it ain't nobody helping me. nobody.

for today. >> 17-year-old morris is locked up for possession of marijuana and more importantly for failing to appear at a prior court hearing. >> today's hearing the court is going to want to hear a little bit about what happened. and make a decision whether or not to release you today. what do you want to have happen. >> i want to get released. >> okay. did you test positive for marijuana when you came in? >> you did. >> yeah. >> all right. the court's going to ask you why you were using marijuana. do you know how you'd answer that? >> yeah, i would tell them i was in a car. they were smoking marijuana. >> one of the things i know is the probation department is recommending that you stay locked up. all right? we have our work cut out for us. the difficult challenge as a public defender for a child is

distinguishing between what's in the child's best interests and what the child wants because in every case, every child wants to get out of here but there's no question that as morris' advocate that i want him to go home. my preference is that children should be home with their parents. as opposed to, you know, detained in a detention center. >> you know you had a court hearing, didn't even come? >> i didn't go because i was scared. they said they would give me two years in placement. >> so you run away. i'm not going to recommend that you go home. i'm going to try to keep you staying here so we can work something out. >> it's not going to work, sir. >> something's going to work. let's go back. you're not going to run around like a chicken with your head cut off. >> probation officer gordon fleming is convinced morris require morse time in the care of the state. his attorney will fight to see that morris gets what he wants, to be released home.

but it is judge mary beth bonaventura who ultimately gets to decide morris' fate. >> i think i understand your testimony to be because morris is not as available or participating with these services to the extent that you think appropriate, that he should just remain locked up? >> well, i'm basing that upon him running away from home. his mother not knowing where he is. and she was having a hard time controlling him and reasoning with him. he has failed a couple of drug tests. morris has told me on several occasions that whatever i do it's not going to work. >> so had you previously recommended that he undergo anger management, and you had recommended family counseling and counseling services. why don't we let it work itself through some more. let's let 9 counseling take hold, the anger management take hold before we say the answer is to keep him locked up. >> that would be fine but morris has tended to befriend some young men, one for instance who was shot the other day in a

drive-by shooting. young people he's been associating with. i believe it's safer for morris to be here for us to work with morris. >> so now it's an issue of him being safe? >> well, that's one of the issues, yes. >> oh, okay. that's all i have, judge. >> anything else? >> mr. fleming, just to reiterate, the main issue is you fear that morris won't be present for future hearings? >> yes. >> and that's based on his past behavior. >> yes, ma'am. absolutely. >> no further questions, judge. >> morris when you didn't come to court on july 24th, did your mother come? >> yes. >> have there been other times when you leave the home without your mom's permission? >> yes. >> when you go to school, do you go to school every day? >> yes. >> your attendance is perfect? >> yes. >> judge, could i have a brief moment with my client? >> go ahead. >> be honest. i'm telling you. she's going to have all the records from your school. listen to the question and answer it honestly. don't make it worse. >> anything else?

>> no, judge. >> all right. mr. ruck? >> judge, i would call morris' mother angel to the stand, please. if the court were to decide that morris need not be looked up any longer would you be willing to have him released to your custody? >> i'm always willing. but i just wonder if that's what's best for him. >> well, do you think it's best to keep him locked up? >> here, no, i don't. but as far as what helps, i know that there is a problem and he does not need some help. >> does he recognize there's a problem? >> yes, he does. >> why do you say that. >> we discussed it, and he does admit that there is an anger problem. >> do you think it's appropriate that he go home with you? >> i'll try. >> that's what you want to do?

>> i'll try. >> after listening to all the arguments, and assessing the witnesses, i would say that the mother, mrs. moseley, certainly, you know, gave her heartfelt testimony. and i could feel for her as a parent when she said she's willing. but i also think what she didn't go on to say, which i think she probably would admit to, is that he's a little bit of a handful for her. more importantly to me is that he's out on the street doing some very dangerous things. and we all know that when you lay down with dougs, you get fleas. so this young man has been living on the street or between friends or doing something that he shouldn't be doing. all because he was afraid to come to court. he endangered himself and maybe others. for those reasons the court is going to order that he remain detained pending his next hearing because there's an unlikelihood that he will appear for a subsequent hearing. now are there any questions? all right, then this hearing's adjourned. thank you. >> want to say anything to your mother?

>> i see you at 1:30. >> i know i'm going to -- go crazy up in this place. >> it's okay. i'll see you at 1:30, all right? you're going to be all right. i'll be here all day every day. i love you. >> i love you too. >> hang in there. >> i certainly understand why the court did what it did. there's not a solid support structure in place where this mother says i'm going to take care of this problem. and he's not going to be back again. while i certainly was advocating for him to go home and would have liked to have seen that, i understand the court's decision. >> with so much testimony pushing against morris' release, the judge decides he should remain locked up until his next court hearing. rodrick, on the other hand, is coming to court with his own cheering section. but will it be enough to sway judge bonaventura? >> he actually asked me to stay on probation throughout the summer until his 18th birthday at his last hearing because he felt the extra supervision from myself would really help him get through the summer to ensure

that he would be able to stay on the right track. and in almost seven years i've never had a juvenile ask me for that extra time with probation and with the therapist. they want to get off, get done and call it a day. rodrick actually came to me and looked me in my face and said, can you please stay with me on my case, let me stay on probation with you so that we can get through this? >> can you be more specific about the level of improvement that you've seen in the past year of working with him? >> he had an allegiance with a street gang. and there was a lot of respect that he got with the street gang. a lot of authority with the street gang. and position. and recently, rodrick has terminated his association by removing the tattoos on his arm. which is a measurable feat. >> how significant of a step is that for somebody who's been affiliated with gang to remove the gang signs from themselves? >> a monumental step, a remarkable feat. >> do you believe it would be safe for him to be released to the care and custody of his mother. >> yes, i do. >> thank you.

that's all the questions that i have, judge. >> rod, let's talk first about what brings you here today. you're being charged with possession of marijuana and resisting law enforcement. are you going to cooperate with the prosecutor's office in identifying the person whose marijuana that it was? >> i can do that. >> will you do that? >> i will do that because it's not mine. i'm not going to jail for nothing that's not mine. i've been working too hard this year. too hard this year. i have improved my whole life. my mother told me a long time ago when i was at boy's school if i ever in my life from now till the time i'm dead, did i ever got locked up she wouldn't come and so me. she wouldn't be here now. and you know i felt that's why i know my mother believed me and she know the truth. that's why she's here today. >> that's all i have, judge. >> i have a question. rodrick, have you been having drug tests while you've been on probation? >> yes, ma'am. >> can you pass a drug screen today. >> i believe i can. >> what do you mean you believe you can? >> i believe i can. i do it any other time.

>> okay. all right. you can have a seat next to your lawyer. >> did you smoke marijuana the last 30 days or not? >> not that i know of. >> not that you know of? sounds like you're going to get comfortable here. >> so your mom knew where you were at? >> no, she didn't know where i was at. >> so you were a run away.

well, i commend all the improvements that you've made in your life. you've had a lot of people here today that testified to that. i wasn't quite convinced that your response to whether or not you could be clean today was, i wasn't sure you were sure about it. today what i'm going to do is order that you submit to a drug test.

if he has a clean drug screen, i'm going to order that he be released on electronic home monitor. if he's dirty, he's going to stay here. >> what's it going to be? >> hopefully i'll go home. >> hopefully go home. did you smoke marijuana of the last 30 days or not. >> not that i know of. >> not that you know of? sounds like you're going to get comfortable here. it's either yes or no. not that you know of. did you smoke marijuana in your sleep? >> huh un. >> i'm not worried about it. completely. i'm going home. it has been 21 days since judge bonaventura decided to keep morris detained at lake county juvenile while the probation department and courts determined what is best for him. today he goes back before the judge to learn his fate. >> put your hands behind your back. >> judge might tend me to placement. or she'll probably make me -- if i could talk to the judge right now, i'd tell her i'm trying to

do better. i know i got a problem. but you send me home, trust me, i'm going to show you i can work my problem out with my whole family. >> morris, you remember some time back, we went through a detention hearing where you talked about your background, your history and what you wanted to have happen, correct. >> yes. >> we're not going to go through all of that for today's hearing. all i want to know is what you've learned since you've been locked up. >> what i learned is i know how to control my anger. i would like to go home with my family. >> can the court and can your mother believe you right now when you're saying that. >> yes. and my father. >> can you look them in the eye and tell them that that you're going to fully comply with everything. >> i'm going to fully comply. i'm going to do better. i'm trying to change my life. i don't want to be angry. i got a problem. i admit. >> what's your problem? >> i have an anger problem.

>> that's all i have, judge. >> anything. >> morris, you said you couldn't go to your therapy appointments because the therapist came when you were sleeping. she came too early or he came too early. what part of your smoking marijuana played into that? >> i don't smoke in the morningtime. >> well, when do you smoke? >> tell you the truth, probably around in the afternoon. >> how did your running away from home in july, until mid-august prevent you from meeting with your therapist? >> i didn't run away. >> so your mom knew where you were at. >> no, she didn't know where i was at. >> so you were a runaway. >> her boyfriend see me. my sisters see me. i would come home. i would spend the night downstairs. she wouldn't even know it. >> you're telling me people in your house knew you were sleeping in that house at night when there was a runaway report out for you? is that what you're telling me? >> yeah. >> and they didn't tell your mother you were in the house? >> they told her but she ain't know i was sleeping.

>> thank you. no further questions. >> mr. ruck, anything else. >> all i would say, judge, is that being locked up, sitting here does something. i believe it has for morris. i would suggest that we move in increments. we move in increments from where he was before with no real restrictions, just you need to do what we're telling you to do. to now we're going to put a bracelet around your ankle and make sure that you're doing what we say we're going to do. before we jump to the most severe conclusion, the recommendation that he be shipped off away from his family and brothers and sisters who he hasn't seen in a very long time. so i would just ask the court give some credence to what he said on the stand today. thank you. >> judge, we've heard that morris has done some soul searching while he's been detained for the last three weeks and apparently has seen the light. i'm not sure what light it is he's seeing. what i've heard is a person that's still not taking responsibility for anything that he does. he's not going to get services unless this court takes him and puts him in a place where he can receive services and he

desperately needs services. i think that probation's recommendation for placement should be followed. >> listen to me and do what i'm saying. you admit to one or the other. if you don't want to admit to marijuana, deny it. they'll dismiss it. you admit to resisting arrest. >> we've got a young man who's punching holes in the wall. maybe he's not ready to come home. 0

this is a difficult case for me for a lot of reasons. i think that this is a mom, too, i remember from the last hearing she said i'm always willing. you know. always willing. to me that's a sign of a really great mother. but at the same time, she acknowledges and admits that maybe he's not ready to come home. i mean, we've got a young man who is punching holes in the wall. we have a young man who is abusing drugs. and we've got a young man who

left home for four or five or six weeks to avoid his mother, because he knew there would be a conflict. and so that worries me that he's going to put himself in a situation that's going to become dangerous for him. so for all of those reasons today the court is going to order that he be placed at camp pannia academy and i'll order that his family participate in family counseling along with him, so that he can return home sooner than later. >> all right. >> this hearing's adjourned. thank you. >> say good-bye to your parents. >> bye. >> it's for the best. i love you, too. i'll see you. we'll see you there. okay. >> i think morris is a stinker. good luck. and i think that he gives his mother a run for her money. he's not to the point where he's really a danger to other people. so i don't see him as a hardened criminal at this point in his life.

it's my job and the job of the juvenile court system to make sure he doesn't get to that point. >> rodrick. i brought you a visitor. how are you? >> two weeks ago, judge bonaventura sent rodrick back to detention to await the results of a drug test. after his testimony left her less than satisfied. >> can you pass a drug screen today. >> i believe i can. >> what do you mean you believe you can? >> i believe i can. i do it any other time. >> it was an unfortunate end to a day in court that had been going rodrick's way. and it would only get worse for rodrick when the results came in. >> after you tested positive for marijuana, i've been working with the prosecutor to try and get some type of agreement that gets this whole thing disposed of. the prosecutor was originally recommending 120 days locked up here. here's what -- here's what -- hold on.

hang in there. hang in there. >> oh, god. >> you didn't let him finish. >> i want you to get out of here. >> i don't want to be here. you all supposed to be helping me. there ain't nobody helping me. nobody. >> rodrick, calm down. >> i don't want to be here. i just spent a year of my life incarcerated. >> okay, well calm down first of all. >> listen to what i'm telling you. here's what she's agreed to do. i think this is what we should do. you're charged with two things, possession of marijuana and resisting arrest. you admit the allegations of one, they'll dismiss the other and then we can go in there and we can argue to the court whether you should be released for time served. >> they all want me to admit to something i didn't even do. >> just listen to what i'm saying. i'm trying to get an agreement

for you that gets you out of here. you admit to one or the other. you don't want to the admit to marijuana, deny that, they'll dismiss it, you admit to resisting arrest. >> rodrick and his mother and attorney head off to court. >> you never know till somebody walks into court and you know and faces the judge how they're going to react or what they're going to say. >> okay. >> whatever decision rodrick makes in the next five minutes, it will likely feat the direction of his entire future. >> oh, god. >> mr. brown, you've heard all the testimony today about what people think should happen to you. what do you want to have happen? >> i understand i resisted law enforcement. and me being back in that room for two weeks, that really got to me. i know i tested like positive for marijuana but that's something i did like back in july. and i thought i was going to be clean by the time i came to court. >> i know some people might say using a little bit of marijuana

isn't like shooting somebody but at the same time, do you understand the significance of that one use of marijuana what it had on your family and your life and frankly, on the underlying charges that you already had pending against you? >> well, i take full responsibilities for my actions and i just feel like i let them down, you know? like miss sarah and bob and my mom. i just want to like go home and take care of my responsibilities. >> rodrick, do you rememberer judge bonaventura asking you about taking a drug test? >> yes, ma'am. >> do you say you probably should be clean, something like that. >> i probably should. >> so you were trying to put one over on the judge, right? >> no. i thought i was going to be clean. so that's why i didn't say yes, and that's why i didn't say no. >> so you were hoping you were going to get by with it. >> not necessarily. >> well, you knew you were lying

to the judge. >> judge, hold on. i'm going to object to that. he answered the question. the question the court asked, would he pass a drug test. not did he use marijuana. >> i'm going to sustain the objection. >> no further questions, judge. >> i have a couple questions for rod. you had tattoos rehe moved, didn't you? >> yeah. >> what kind of tattoos were they? >> i had gang tattoos off a scripture on my arm. i knew i was going to do better in life. that's why i removed the gang tattoos because i ain't proud of that life no more. because you know the gang, it's not here helping me right now. >> okay. is there anything else you want to tell me today. >> regardless of if i go home today or two weeks from now, when i get out, i'm going to go to school and i'm still going to be this positive person i became. because i like the person that i became. >> there's a whole bunch of stuff i could say to you today, rod. i know it was huge for you to remove the gang tattoo which

speaks volumes to me after doing this job for 26 years, i don't think -- i'm sure there's somebody out there that has but no one that i'm aware of has ever done that and sat up on the stand and testified that you've done it, knowing that you're going to go back out in the same city that you were in when you belonged to that gang and maybe take your chances of what denouncing them might do to you today. you're like this close to succeed. and you're so afraid of that. that it's easier for you to fail. just think about this hearing today and all this argument about whether you're a good person or you're not. there's only really one opinion in this room right now that matters and it's mine. i think you are a good person and i think you're going to make it. for that reason, today the court is order that you serve 30 days in the lake county juvenile center and i'm going to give you credit for the time you served, i'm going to release you today and order you released to the custody of your mother. >> okay? >> your honor, may i hug miss bob- >> if they want to hug you, you can hug them. >> i'm not going to make that request.

>> you're going to be okay. >> thanks, bob. >> this is my first time not to hug you, miss sarah. >> i know. >> even though he did test dirty for marijuana and he was arrested. i don't want that to wipe away all the good he's done which for somebody like rodrick is just enormous. >> this is the last time i'm going to see you, miss jane. >> that's a good thing. >> i'm going to be 18 next month. >> next month. however, don't want to read about you in the paper. >> he was locked up for two weeks. he paid the price for coming here with a dirty drug screen. i think he got that message. and i -- he needed today, somebody to say to him, i believe in you. and i just felt it was the right time to convey that message to him. >> whoo!

due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. msnbc takes you behind the walls of america's most notorious prisons, into a world of chaos and danger. now the scenes you've never seen, "lockup: raw." >> when our crews go into maximum security prisons across the country there's a certain dynamic we observe every time. it's the inherent distrust between correctional officers and inmates and yet they have to work side by side every day and get along.