In North Carolina, you’re not old enough to vote until you are 18.
But as young as 16, you’re old enough to automatically be tried as an adult, even if you are charged with a relatively minor and non-violent crime.
We’re an outlier on this – North Carolina is one of only two states that charge 16- and 17-year-olds as adults for any crime.
That may be about to change. “Raising the age” may make it through the General Assembly this session, buoyed by bipartisan support at a time when that’s not found on many issues.
Some opposition in the past has come from people worried about teenage drug dealers who should face adult-court trials. The bill now in front of the House would still try violent felonies and some drug offenses in adult court.
House Bill 280, filed Wednesday by Rep. Chuck McGrady, a Republican from Henderson County, includes prime sponsors from both parties. Rep. Duane Hall, a Wake County Democrat and another prime sponsor, expressed optimism about the bill Wednesday.
“We’ve got everybody on board -- I mean from the chief justice, chamber of commerce, bankers association, sheriffs, police -- it seems like the world’s behind it,” he said. “We do surveys and polls and it’s over 90 percent of the public in both rural and urban areas.”
The advantages are clear.
“When youth end up in adult court, there is limited access to rehabilitative programming, mentoring, counseling, and education,” the Youth Justice Project says on its website. The organization is a project of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.
“Evidence shows that the juvenile system – with programs tailored to how children think and learn – is more effective at rehabilitating youth,” the website adds. “Fewer then go on to commit another crime, which means lower costs to society and more children growing up to become educated, employed citizens.”
The Raise the Age NC Coalition notes that raising the age has been recommended by N.C. Chief Justice Mark Martin’s Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice. The coalition stresses not only savings for taxpayers and greater public safety, but the need for different services for 16- and 17-year olds convicted of crimes.
“Two-thirds of children in the criminal justice system have at least one disability,” the coalition writes on its website. “The juvenile justice system is a far more productive setting for these children than the adult criminal justice system.”
It is encouraging that raising the age seems to have momentum in this session. Much can entangle even the best of ideas in the legislature, but this is the right thing to do.
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/raise-the-age/article_5f1fbfa2-0527-11e7-9a88-2fd6075559de.html
