RALEIGH — A North Carolina lawmaker wants to see the state treat 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds as juveniles instead of adults in the court system.
A legislative committee met to discuss the issue Thursday. A handful of state lawmakers, along with some judges and law enforcement officials, met to talk about when courts should consider teenagers as adults.
“People have the perception that juvenile court is just a slap on the wrist or that it isn’t real. But actually, when you’re an older youth in the juvenile system, your offenses and your punishment might be much greater than when you are in the adult system where you’re treated as a first time offender with no record,” said Stephanie Kollmann, a Clinical Fellow and Attorney with the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law in Illinois.
North Carolina is one of only two states that still charges all 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds as adults. Some state lawmakers want to change that, keeping those charged with misdemeanors in the juvenile court system.
“If we charge them and convict them as adults, their right to get a job [or] go to college is so often diminished. We need to give these kids a chance,” said committee member Chief District Court Judge Marcia Morey.
“These are often typical teenage crimes like graffiti, a school fight, etc. When they’re 16-years-old and you have these sorts of offenses happen, this is not when you want to be putting them in contact with adult criminals,” said Kollmann.
However opponents, like the North Carolina Sheriff’s Association, say the change would overwhelm the juvenile court system. They say there is also not enough funding for juvenile courts and juvenile programs to deal with the change.
“[There are] no facilities, no way to separate the older kids from younger kids, no programs, no money and no plan. You certainly can’t put 13-year-old and 14-year-old juveniles in the same housing unit as 16-year-old and 17-year-olds or you’ll just turn young folks that might have a chance at turning their life around into career criminals being trained by the older kids,” NC Sheriff’s Association Executive Vice President and General Counsel Eddie Caldwell told News 14 Carolina about the proposal back in May.
Supporters say treating 16-and 17-year-old non-violent offenders as juveniles would actually save the state money.
“I’m not sure it’s going to cost that much money and over the long period, we will save money. If we do it right the first time, we’re going to reduce recidivism. We’re going to need fewer jail beds or prison beds because we’re getting kids turned around,” said Morey.
Rep. Marilyn Avila, a Republican, plans to introduce the legislation next session. Under the proposal, this law change would only apply to 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds charged with misdemeanors. Those charged with felony crimes would continue to be in adult court.