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States Rethinking Harsh Juvenile Crime Laws

By Jeralyn, Section Juvenile Offenders
Posted on Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 03:58:04 PM EST
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One size fits all justice never works. States that in the past enacted tough laws charging juveniles as adults and in many cases throwing them in prison for life without a key are now rethinking these laws.

They're responding to new research on the adolescent brain, and studies that indicate teens sent to adult court end up worse off than those who are not: They get in trouble more often, they do it faster and the offenses are more serious.

"It's really the trifecta of bad criminal justice policy," says Shay Bilchik, a former Florida prosecutor who heads the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University. "People didn't know that at the time the changes were made. Now we do, and we have to learn from it."

States considering changes: Colorado, Connecticut, California, Michigan, Illinois. The article is filled with details.

America can't jail itself out of its juvenile crime problem. We can't keep putting law enforcement and punishment over prevention.

The expertise of the family court and the juvenile court system serves a vital function in our society. As I wrote back in 1998 when Congress was considering some ill-advised juvenile crime legislation:

The value of prevention over the pure "lock-em-up" mentality was shown by a Rand Corporation projection: While a $1 million investment in new prisons would prevent 60 serious crimes a year, the same $1 million, if invested in parent training, could prevent 160 serious crimes a year. And if the same amount were spent on graduation incentives for disadvantaged students, there might be 258 fewer serious crimes a year.
It's time to get smarter, not tougher about crime.

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    States Rethinking Harsh Juvenile Crime Laws | 4 comments (4 topical)

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    hogwash (none / 0) (#1)
    by cpinva on Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 07:59:21 PM EST
    "People didn't know that at the time the changes were made. Now we do, and we have to learn from it."

    they most certainly did know that at the time, they just chose to ignore it, because the truth wouldn't get them re-elected. if shay bilchik really, truly believes this nonsense, then i have some shares in the brooklyn bridge for sale, at below par.

    as for concrete changes, i'll believe it when i actually see legislation passed, and signed off on by the various gov's, not before. they might make noises about it, in between elections, but come the campaign, they'll be out there, fighting hard to hang children in the public square.

    you can bet on it.

    Wow! (none / 0) (#2)
    by chemoelectric on Sun Dec 02, 2007 at 01:13:30 AM EST

    They're responding to new research on the adolescent brain, and studies that indicate teens sent to adult court end up worse off than those who are not: They get in trouble more often, they do it faster and the offenses are more serious.

    Who would'a thunk it! This is an astounding discovery....

    around here, (none / 0) (#3)
    by diogenes on Sun Dec 02, 2007 at 10:13:10 PM EST
    When teens seem more conduct disordered/sociopathic, they are more likely to be sent to adult court.  I strongly suspect that the kids sent to adult court are not randomly selected but are the worst of the teens, since kids at this level are well known to police/school/justice systems for some years.

    They cannot be repaired (none / 0) (#4)
    by NMvoiceofreason on Sun Dec 02, 2007 at 10:31:59 PM EST
    No one can.

    It is high time we got rid of the philosophy of the Founding Fathers, that men are fallible, and that their mistakes can be corrected. Those that were uncorrectable were sentenced to death as a last resort.

    We now know that the mistakes of men cannot be corrected. Once convicted of any felony, they cannot correct their lives and ever contribute to society again. We now know that they cannot serve their sentences and move on, but must be hit with a series of increasingly punitive measures, until they inevitably re-offend. Waiting for that third strike is just allowing them two free crimes.

    Teenagers must now be executed at their first mistake. Otherwise they will get one or two free crimes as a juvenile, before the enter their adult life of crime. This is why it is so important to try them as adults, especially if members of minority groups, before they enter their adult criminal lives.

    Investing in these uncorrectable failures is just throwing good money after bad. We have built new, modern, vast prison complexes. Who will fill them? We spent good money on them and got exactly what we paid for. Now it is time to end these teen criminals at the very moment they get started.

    Death penalty for jaywalking!

    (for those unable to detect, the above was written in sarcastic font).

    States Rethinking Harsh Juvenile Crime Laws | 4 comments (4 topical)

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