Group seeks to raise juvenile age from 16 to 18

At a press conference Tuesday morning, leaders from Right on Crime, a conservative criminal justice reform initiative, made their case for a bill that would raise the juvenile age from 16 to 18. According to Rep. Marilyn Avila, the “Raise the Age” bill would keep 16- and 17-year-olds in juvenile court for misdemeanors only, while all felonies would continue to be handled in adult court. The Raise the Age system is currently in place in 48 states, Avila said. “North Carolina and New York are the only states that treat their juveniles this way,” she said.
Rep. Jerry Madden of Texas, where a similar law has been implemented, said the juvenile probation numbers dropped from 105,000 last year to 79,000 -- a 25 percent reduction. The current bill calls for $9 million in the first year, and would increase in later years. Avila said the process would take about four years to implement. Chief Frank Palombo, former president of the NC Association of Chiefs of Police, spoke at the press conference, detailing the implications of the current system. He said that in North Carolina, if a 16- or 17-year-old steals a bag of chips, and at 25 decides he wants to be a police officer, he cannot be hired because of his criminal record. He said that if a juvenile in Florida were under the same circumstances, that person could be hired.

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