|
| ||||
WCCF’s initiative to return 17-year-olds to the juvenile court is moving forward with tremendous momentum. Currently in Wisconsin, all 17-year-olds are treated as adults for criminal prosecution. The Senate and Assembly companion bills--SB 401 and an AB 746--change the age of jurisdiction to allow nonviolent 17-year-olds to participate in juvenile court and access the treatments and services available through that system. The bill keeps intact the current laws mandating transfer of some violent offenders to adult court, and allows transfer for any juvenile over 15 after judicial approval. Nearly 30,000 17-year-olds are arrested in Wisconsin each year. The vast majority of these young people are arrested for minor infractions such as disorderly conduct and liquor law violations. This bill would allow low-level and first-time 17-year-old offenders to be given the opportunities for rehabilitation only available through the juvenile court system. By requiring convicted 17-year-olds to disclose their crimes to potential employers and schools, current law creates significant barriers to employment and higher education. Under the proposed legislation, low-level offenders who are retained in juvenile court will have the protections of confidentiality that are currently only applicable to youth 16 and under. In essence, adolescent mistakes will no longer lead to lifelong negative consequences for these youth. Research shows that trying youth as adults increases recidivism. That is, for matched pairs of young people (matched for their crime, socio-economic status, and other factors that might predict recidivism), when one is tried in the juvenile court and the other in the adult system, the youth tried in the adult system is 34 percent more likely to commit another crime. Given that each new crime has an effect on the community, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report concluding that, “…the transfer of youth to the adult criminal justice system typically results in greater subsequent crime, including violent crime, among transferred youth; therefore, transferring juveniles to the adult system is counterproductive as a strategy for preventing or reducing violence.” Wisconsin is out of step with the rest of the nation on treatment of 17-year-olds. We are one of only 12 states that have an age of adult court jurisdiction under 18. By enacting SB 401/AB 746, we can be smarter on crime. In early February, two reports relevant to this topic were published, one by the Legislative Audit Bureau and one by the Governor’s Commission on Reducing Racial Disparities. Both of these publications support the case for making this policy change. We welcome the addition of these resources to the discussion. But the reality is that we already had more than enough information about this issue; now it's time for action.
|
||||
