THE CASE OF COURTNEY SCHULHOFF: VIEW ... - Justice4kids.org

THE CASE OF COURTNEY SCHULHOFF:
VIEW OVER THE OCEAN (TWO YEARS LATER)
The aim of this document is to inform that the ‘life without parole’ sentence for children and juveniles
attracted attention beyond the ocean, in Europe.
Czech Republic, May 16, 2009. Michal Horák, assist. prof., RNDr., CSc.
Courtney Schulhoff’s case and other similar cases of juveniles sentenced to ‘life without parole’
attracted attention of people in Europe. Germany journalist Stefan Scheytt visited USA, responsibly
collected information from involved persons (for instance from Professor Paolo Annino, Florida State
University, Tallahassee, and many others) and in February and March 2009 published several articles
in Germany and Switzerland. The articles and photos are published at the title pages of the magazines
and newspapers.
Let me present the
English translation of two
short passages of the
Germany articles that are
related to Courtney’s case.
The Germany text can be
found at the websites quoted
at the end of this report.
Everything in America is
bigger, larger, and greater
than anywhere in the
world: cars, chocolate bars,
popcorn paper bags in
cinema, salaries of
corporate directors,
violence, fear of violence,
the strictness and rigidity of
the law and of the courts,
just to violence and force
didn’t govern. There is
something abnormal and
monstrous in US criminal
law.
There is no other
country in the world that
keeps so many its citizens
in prison for so long time as
USA. In USA lives only 5%
of all people in the world,
but in US prisons there is
one fourth of all prisoners
in the world. In the late of
2006, United Nations
approved the resolution
against this manner of
imprisonment of juveniles –
176 countries accepted and
signed the resolution, only
one country didn’t, USA.

Among bars for ever. No more freedom. About ten thousands offender serve in US prisons life
term because of offences that they committed as teenagers; about one quarter of them without
any chance to be released: life without parole.
She is 1.54 meter small and 44 kilogram
light, porcelain skin, freckled. She cries, tears
flow out from her brown eyes, she wrings her
hands and says: “I don´t exist more.”
Courtney Schulhoff is a small hill of
unhappiness. She is 21 now und she lives five
years among bars, high walls and wireobstacles.
Everything indicates that she leaves
the prison in a coffin, like an old and bitterish
woman that in fact never lived – it is possible
only in USA.
On an evening in February 2004, a few days
after her 16 birthday, Courtney Schulhoff stood
with her dog in front of a House in Altamonte
Springs, Florida, whilst her 20 years old
boyfriend clubbed by a baseball bat her sleeping
father. One can’t understand why the young
couple expected that their problems can be
dispatched from world in this way. Problems
accumulated long years and step by step brought
Courtney’s family to disruption. Her parents are
Mormons that keep very strict rules – no coffee,
no spirits, no sex without marriage certificate – but her parents broke all rules. Courtney, teenager
at that time, responded by depression, recalcitrance and revolt, she smoked, she drank spirits, she
dressed black, she told stories about sex with her boyfriend. “My mom put me in the approved
school. She didn’t want me to going to church with such a potato mug.” Her deeply faithful stepbrother
agreed with her, because she lost and gave out her virginhood. After a scandal, her mother
left the family with a new man. Courtney suffered her father; he is now her last ally in the family
but as soon as his divorce trauma passed over he did suddenly “something what usually fathers
didn´t do with their daughters.” Two times. “He detested me. When he came home I went out. I
wasn´t able to endure his presence.” He drank spirits, he leaded women home, Courtney disliked
them, only quarrels were at home, she stole him checks to by a new clothes, he incriminated her,
she was several days in jail, the couple went for a drive with father’s car. She said sometimes
yourself, it would be better if he would be dead.
Courtney Schulhoff, prison number 154495 is sitting in Ocala, Florida, in the visiting room of the
woman prison, convicted to life without parole, similarly as her former boyfriend, in light blue
prison dress, crew haircut, tears in her eyes. “I have written a poem some days ago, how so much
I miss my dad.” She paused, she sobs, falters out and says with faint voice: “It makes my heart
bleed. I am without everything, without my dad, without love, I will never have my family. It’s a
great fester, I feel a terrible rage, fear an d hate for myself. I don’t know how to survive here. It’s
no life. For nobody.” She put her head at the shoulder of her friend Alicia, 25, also convicted to life.
“We must die here”, says Alicia with a cool voice.

I present here the English
translation of one of the readers’
letters written by Professor
Joachim Hradetzky, University
of Freiburg, Germany, that tries
to analyze why the European
point of view so much and so
significantly differs from that in
US (it is his response to the
article in Badische Zeitung
News):
Let’s realize that in USA
there are eight times more
inmates for one million of
inhabitants than in Germany
(one quarter of all inmates in
the world, 2.3 million men and
women, live in US prisons) and
at the same time let’s take into
account that about 60 percent
of US inhabitants regularly visit
church services (in Germany
only 20 percent) – a skeptic
could conclude there is a causal
relationship between religiosity
and inclination to acts of
violence. A skeptic could find
evidence for this conclusion just
in Bible – many violent events
and many acts of injury are
described in Bible.
We will not analyze skeptic’s
outlooks. It is something else
what is alarming and terrifying
with those numbers and with
the statement of the article in
Badische Zeitung Magazin.
How is it possible that deeply religious and Christian society is able to be so much remorseless,
ruthless, stony and without mercy to its citizens? Teenagers whose criminal offence was never
exactly and unequivocally proved are sentenced to ‘life without parole’, without any chance to
conditional release, without any chance to mercy.
Jesus Christ instructed us to mercy, grace and pity; see Matthew 18;21, Lucas 17;4 or Epheser
4;32; the celebrants bring these words in our memories during mass celebration on Sundays.
However, it seems for many people it is only lip-Christianity; in working days the old and
traditional law is applied: vengeance and revenge.
This view is confirmed by the recent family drama of Courtney Schulhoff, a girl sentenced life
without parole. Her Mormon parents never kept special rules of abstinence and restraint.
Drunkenness, scandals, the family came apart, even the rape of their 15-age daughter by her own
father.
She – perhaps – prompted her boyfriend against her father; is it so incomprehensible or
perplexing? If one looks at the face of this child, one can only madden that there is a society that is
able to take away any possibility of comeback and new beginning not only to this girl but also to
many other girls. And the same is valid also for many other inmates.
Fortunately, enlightenment in Europe resulted in understanding that no vengeance and revenge
but punishment, correction, reconciliation and forgiveness are the right way of treating with
offenders.If one compares the letter by Professor Hradetzky with the strict rules of Mormons and with
the life of the real Mormon’s family (see the previous page) as described above, it indeed seems that
the religious faith is for some people indeed only a lip-faith.

European Union). The public
response was so large that
reporters of two Germany TV
channels (RTL and ZDF) visited
Courtney in prison and made an
interview with her. As ZDF
Channel transmits from
Washington and New York,
Courtney about herself: from Courtney’s Facebook notes
Courtney in TV broadcasting
The published articles attracted
large attention among readers not
only in Germany speaking
countries, but also among other
readers that are able to read
Germany (and there is a lot of such
readers because Germany is one of
the official languages of the
maybe also TV watchers in USA
could see Courtney Schulhoff on
their screens.
Germany television RTL
included the interview with
Courtney in the evening news on
May 7, 2009m and the redactor
appreciated the interview as so
much interesting that a short
trailer to the interview was
included immediately at the
beginning of the news.
The following text are selected passages from Courtney’s Facebook notes that – in my opinion –
characterize her personality:
Also, when I was 17 and still in the county jail, I wrote a story kind of like a life story at that
particular time, and sent it to the authors of Chicken Soup For the Soul. They decided that they
liked it and would use it for one of their books. Well, that book will be in stores July 1st of this
year. It's called, "Serving Productive Time." I'm so excited! I love the title of the book! That's
exactly how I'm aiming to serve my time. I've always wanted to publish a book since I was a little
girl. To be published in a book along with others like me is awesome.
I love to read, but the prison's library isn't that great to me, so it's become a dream to just get
some stellar books. I like to read a lot, though. Right now, I'm studying different theories out of a
Psychology Today magazine that another inmate threw on the ground outside. There are some
interesting and cool things in there! I figure studying psychology will help me to understand the
very different people that I've met and will meet while I'm in here. I've achieved a lot since I've
been in prison. I got my GED at 17, certification in architectural drafting at 19, and certification as

a law clerk at 21. The
goals that I've made to
better myself as an
individual, I've achieved,
thus far. What's even
better is that I still have
more goals and I plan to
achieve those, as well.
I miss being normal.
Just being a girl, I
guess. In here, it's very
hard to feel girly
because we just sort of
exist. I want to feel 21,
you know? Have a job,
go to school, and be
human - not inmate
#154495. I'm still a girl,
not a number or
statistic.
I work in the prison's
law library. I just
became a certified law
clerk trainee. I had
training for 10 months. I
applied for the job by
attaching a resume that I made in my architectural drafting class to the application. "Nobody's ever
done that," is what the supervisor said. After a year in drafting, I graduated and got accepted into
the Law Library as a trainee. What we do (as a clerk) is assist inmates with filing and drafting
motions to go into the courts, ranging from civil to Federal Courts. I enjoy studying law a lot. Law
is very confusing, though. I only have a basic
training in the law as of now, but I learn more and
more every day. I enjoy my job very much.
Another German television station wants to do
an interview with me. I did one other German T.V.
interview about 2-3 weeks ago that went well.
This new channel is called ZDF German Public
Broadcasting and they're broadcast out of
Washington D.C. The other channel's out of New
York.
I want to understand why it is that Europe has
more faith in me than the country that I live in!!!
I'm grateful for the support - so very grateful. Do
you think Europe can get the U.S. to open their
eyes?
Let me conclude: Courtney is a very sensitive
and talented girl with aesthetic sense and sense of
responsibility, she realizes what she wants to
achieve and she has will to do everything for her
aim; but it seems she is also rather complicated
personality.
If you have read the above Facebook passages –
do you indeed mean that Courtney is “a baby-faced
butcher” (as said one woman in Florida) or “a
coldly calculating mastermind of the murder”? Do
you indeed mean that “she deserves death penalty

and that life without parole is an undeserved pardon” (as said another woman in Florida)? If one
compares the letter by Professor Hradetzky (see above) with this statement and similar statements that
can be found at various www blog-sites it indeed seems that Christianity is for these women and
similar people indeed only lip-Christianity.
The answer to Courtney’s question “I want to understand why it is that Europe has more faith in
me than the country that I live in …” reads: The principle “tooth for tooth, eye for eye” isn’t used in
Europe. Instead another principle is applied: the principle of the New Testament, of punishment,
reconciliation, understanding and forgiveness. The stone conciliatory roods that were built in Central
Europe already in Middle Ages are clear evidence that these principles have deep roots in Europe law.
Life penalty is applied in Europe only to malefactors that indeed deserve to be eliminated from
human society once forever, not to sixteen-age girls whose dad “did suddenly something what usually
fathers didn´t do with their daughters”. Any penalty is applied only if the guilt is strictly proved (I’m
sorry, but “members of jury found her guilty” is not the same as “her guilty was proved”), the
principles of the Ancient Roma Law “In dubiis reus est absolvendus” are strictly kept and applied in
European law.
The special juvenile law exists in some European countries or, if not, the penalties for juveniles are
one half of the adult penalty. Death penalty for juveniles was impossible in Europe already in 19th
century. All Courtney’s recent activities in prison would be the reason for release after serving one
half of the penalty – in any European country; one half means usually 6-8 years.
Courtney is a victim of her complicate family conditions and at the same she is a victim of the
rigid law system, of the justice that doesn’t want to and that is not able to keep its own rules – to
consider all surrounding circumstances of the killing as it is required in the Standard Jury Instructions
and in other law documents. Courtney deserves to get the second chance, she deserves to be released.
And the answer to the second Courtney’s question: “Do you think Europe can get the U.S. to open
their eyes?” I hope, Europe can do it, but the aid of men and women in Florida and in USA that fight
for the revision of the US justice is necessary.
Internet resources:
►Focus Magazin (Germany)
http://www.focus.de/panorama/reportage/tid-13203/focus-reportage-amerika-gnadenlos_aid_361140.html
http://www.law.fsu.edu/academic_programs/jd_program/cac/images/usa2.pdf
(www-page of the Florida State University)
►Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Magazin am Wochenende (Germany)
http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1235929863102.shtml
►Badische Zeitung Magazin (Germany)
http://www.badische-zeitung.de/leserbriefe-68/christlich-und-doch-gnadenlos--10679640.html
►Annabelle Magazin (Switzerland)
http://www.annabelle.ch/gesellschaft-people/reportagen/?newsid=5292
►Der Tagesspiegel (Germany)
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/zeitung/Sonntag-Sonntag-Gefaengnis-Jugendliche-USA;art2566,2781669
►LAIF Agentur für Photos und Reportagen (Germany)
http://www.laif.de/de/article/23870.html?viewtype=list&batch=0
►Germany TV channels:
http://rtl-rtl-aktuell.feedplace.de/?page=6 [ RTL Aktuell 07.05.2009 >> Download M4V ]
http://www.n-tv.de/home/videos/?d=2009-05-16 [ N-TV >> find and click: ARUSKinderknast ]