A lawmaker frustrated with juvenile delinquency in his East Baltimore neighborhood said yesterday that Maryland could learn a lesson from Singapore.
State Del. Clarence Davis, a Democrat, has proposed allowing the state to "cane" teen-agers caught vandalizing or stealing property, particularly cars.
"Actually, it gets back to the old-fashioned love our grandparents and great grandparents gave to us as a child," said Mr. Davis, 52. "Let's start making them think early on about the consequences of their acts."
Mr. Davis' proposal, House Bill 1077, would allow a judge to sentence a minor who is at least 14 years old to up to 10 strokes of a rattan cane. An employee of the Maryland Division of Correction would carry out the sentence with a cane no more than four feet long and a half-inch in diameter. The bill would require that a physician be present during the caning.
Caning made international news last year when a Singapore judge sentenced Michael Fay, then 18, to six lashes on his bare buttocks. The American teen-ager had pleaded guilty to spray-painting and vandalizing cars. The penalty was reduced to four strokes after President Clinton appealed for clemency.
Public support for Mr. Fay's beating has encouraged lawmakers this year in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi to introduce measures calling for public punishments ranging from paddling to hangings. New York, New Mexico, Missouri, Louisiana and California have considered caning or paddling within the past year. New York is the only one of those states where such a proposal remains alive.
The Mississippi House of Delegates last week voted to give judges the option of sentencing convicted criminals to paddling, whipping or caning.
Some human rights and medical groups consider caning a form of torture. The American Civil Liberties Union has called it cruel and unusual punishment, barred by the U.S. Constitution.
But Mr. Davis said he sees no difference between a rattan cane and the "switches" that were used to "tan my behind" when he misbehaved as a child.
And Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Rowe said she was unaware of any constitutional protections that would prohibit caning in Maryland.
Mr. Davis, the bill's sole sponsor, said that he has yet to find many supporters among Maryland lawmakers.
"A lot of them have laughed about it," he said during an interview yesterday. "They said, 'Caning, heh, heh.' Others said, 'It's about time' and some simply looked astonished."
The delegate said he introduced the bill to turn the tide of juvenile delinquency and to stem a growing vigilantism in his community.
"The adult population in this state is seething with anger regarding our youth and the juvenile justice system," Mr. Davis said. "The level of tolerance has dropped and people are ready to become vigilantes.
"We've had two youths who were shot because adults were frustrated, pushed to the edge."
Vernon "Beethoven" Williams, 17, was shot May 21 when, while horsing around with friends, he accidentally bumped into a parked car in the 4300 block of Clareway St. and set off its alarm. Five months later, Vernon Lee Holmes Jr., 13, was shot dead in the street after a neighbor allegedly began chasing a pack of boys who vandalized his car.
"Something must be done to bring this to a screeching halt," Mr. Davis said.