New Legislation Would Raise the Juvenile Age
Current Michigan law considers defendants aged 17 and up to be adults. And they are prosecuted as such. But a new 20 bill package currently being considered by legislators would change that, raising the juvenile age to 18 across the state.
20 bills may seem like a ridiculous number to address this single issue, but according to Representative Peter Lucido, who is one of the sponsors, there’s a good reason for this. A large number of bills would be required, as the changes would have to be made, both in state and local law, in a number of areas. These would include sentencing guidelines, the types of crimes that are committed, and also the criminal code of proceedings, to name but a few.
One of the most important reasons that this is being considered, is the fact that juveniles who enter the system are rarely if ever rehabilitated. While the goal of the juvenile justice system is to punish as well as rehabilitate, most of those who end up in the “big house” receive only the stick, and little to no carrot.
The result, of course, is that they reenter society having never been rehabilitated. Many become repeat offenders, destined to go on committing crimes that will only serve to put them back behind bars. This legislation hopes to give one last chance to the 17-year-olds, who would otherwise have been tried as adults under Michigan’s current laws.
Although that intention is noble, there are some concerns about the new bill package. For one, the additional cost that would have to be carried by the individual counties responsible for handling juvenile justice issues. While the bills do raise the amount that the counties would be reimbursed from 50% to 75%, there is still some concern that the counties wouldn’t be able to shoulder the added burden.
As for those who are concerned about violent criminals “getting away with murder”, Lucido has stressed the fact that when it comes to violent crimes like rape and murder, juveniles could still be tried as adults under the new law, should it be passed.
Governor Snyder has addressed this particular issue at length in his 2015 criminal justice initiative. But with regard to this collection of bills, he has implied that he will wait for further study results before deciding whether or not he will endorse this package.