Meet Qu’eed Batts
“I have been incarcerated since the age of 14 in adult facilities, so my time in isolation started the day I was arrested. I spent 21 months in county prison in isolation because I was too young for general population.
Not too young to face spending the rest of my life in prison, but too young to be in population.”
Qu’eed Batts, Age 30
Meet Qu’eed. Now, labeled as a Juvie Lifer by the PA DOC, Qu’eed spent the majority of his childhood in the foster care system from ages 5-12 before his conviction and JLWOP sentence at age 14. Qu’eed has spent time working on honing his voice and developing a keen sense of what justice means to him from his own experience and life, and through his voice hopes to educate as his greatest pride is having helped those he loves stay away from the path he himself went down.
While being incarcerated, Qu’eed has “cofounded ARC which stands for Abolitionist Reading Circle with other incarcerated human beings at [the facility in which he is held] with the help of an outside liaison where we connect people from the outside with people on the inside and read books dealing with mass incarceration, inequality, dealing with poor housing and education, and destroying oppressive institutions and try to find solutions to replace these oppressive institutions with healing institutions.” He has worked on Transformative Justice in Practice pamphlets with other individuals, and is a leader in a mentorship program where residents mentor one another on the foundation or idea that “95% of incarcerated people will be released back out into society so if we don't challenge each other to grow and learn from the bad decisions we made - not only will we go out and make the same bad decisions but we won't have the tools to prevent the generations behind us from making the same bad decisions. So to explain what [the program] is to me I would have to say that it is a form of transformative justice because through the positive conversations that take place in that setting we are teaching each other how to prevent harm from taking place in our communities, not only once we return home but in here as well.”
Qu’eed and his wife.
He is a barber, a leader, has a GED under his belt, and someone who credits his growth to the figures who have helped him move away from the gangs and find the tools, acceptance, and assistance needed in order to start progressing towards a different place in his life.
Now 30, Qu’eed has spent more time on the inside than the outside, truly coming to age behind bars. In the wake of Jones v. Mississippi, we are reminded of the inherent ability within our youth to change, to grow, and above all else, that we as individuals are worth so much more than the worst thing that we have ever done in our lives. In the fight for Juvenile Lifers and to end Juvenile Life Without Parole sentencing in the United States, Qu’eed is one of many, but his story stands out strong.