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Editorial, February 3, 2016
Date
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<p>Roughly 6,000 17-year-olds were arrested in 2014 in Louisiana, the vast majority for nonviolent crimes. Every one of them was treated as an adult offender and funneled through adult jails. That is a bad approach to justice.</p>
<p>"These kids are not threats to public safety," said Stephen Phillippi, an LSU professor who authored a study requested by the Legislature on raising the juvenile age.</p>
<p>Being labeled as an adult offender for a youthful mistake can stick with people for life, affecting their ability to get an education, join the military or get a decent job. Spending even a short time in an adult prison could put 17-year-olds at risk of violence from older inmates and turn them into hardened offenders.</p>
<p>Research shows that "the brains of 17-year-olds are still developing, causing 17-year-olds to engage in more risky and impulsive behavior, and this behavior is exacerbated when in the presence of peers," according to the study from the Institute for Public Health and Justice at LSU in New Orleans. In other words, they aren't fully grown emotionally. That affects their ability to understand the long-term consequences of their actions.</p>
<p>Those factors don't excuse bad behavior but should make the state deal with these offenders differently.</p>
<p>Louisiana is out of step nationally. Forty-one other states classify 17-year-olds as juveniles and handle most of those cases in youth or family courts. At least four more states are working to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to 18, according to the LSU study.</p>
<p>Mr. Phillippi said the states that have most recently changed their juvenile offender age to 18 — including Mississippi in 2010 — have had smooth transitions and have in some cases saved money.</p>
<p>It is more expensive to house a juvenile offender on a daily basis, but they typically are released sooner than adult offenders, advocates say. In addition, there are some 17-year-olds who shouldn't be locked up at all. They should be in community-based education or treatment programs.</p>
<p>Research shows that the vast majority of juveniles grow out of antisocial activity as they become adults and learn to control impulsive behavior, according to the LSU study. Felons who are 17 years old are equally good candidates for rehabilitation as younger offenders committing the same crimes, researchers have found.</p>
<p>Of course, there are young people who are 17 — and even younger — who commit violent acts. The juvenile system may not be appropriate in those cases.</p>
<p>The LSU study recommends raising the juvenile offender age only for routine offenses. State law provides for the transfer of offenders as young as 14 to adult court for some other violent crimes. Juvenile advocates who hope the Legislature will raise the juvenile age to 18 this year say they aren't pushing to change that law.</p>
<p>No legislation has been filed yet, and the details will be important to understand.</p>
<p>But Louisiana has taken a misguided approach to sentencing for years, and not only for 17-year-olds.</p>
<p>The state's prison population doubled over the past 20 years to 40,000, mainly because of mandatory minimum sentences. "Only 37 percent of offenders in Louisiana have been convicted of violent crimes ... and the average sentence for a drug-related crime is almost 10 years," according to a 2014 report from Blueprint Louisiana, a statewide citizen group focused on reforms in criminal justice, education and other issues.</p>
<p>Using that many resources for prisons takes money away from education and health care and other vital services. When you consider the lost human potential, the costs are even greater.</p>
<p>And it is even worse to give up on children who have made a mistake and most likely will change their ways if given a chance.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2016/02/juvenile_offender_age.html#incart_river_mobileshort_home">MORE>></a></p>
<p>"These kids are not threats to public safety," said Stephen Phillippi, an LSU professor who authored a study requested by the Legislature on raising the juvenile age.</p>
<p>Being labeled as an adult offender for a youthful mistake can stick with people for life, affecting their ability to get an education, join the military or get a decent job. Spending even a short time in an adult prison could put 17-year-olds at risk of violence from older inmates and turn them into hardened offenders.</p>
<p>Research shows that "the brains of 17-year-olds are still developing, causing 17-year-olds to engage in more risky and impulsive behavior, and this behavior is exacerbated when in the presence of peers," according to the study from the Institute for Public Health and Justice at LSU in New Orleans. In other words, they aren't fully grown emotionally. That affects their ability to understand the long-term consequences of their actions.</p>
<p>Those factors don't excuse bad behavior but should make the state deal with these offenders differently.</p>
<p>Louisiana is out of step nationally. Forty-one other states classify 17-year-olds as juveniles and handle most of those cases in youth or family courts. At least four more states are working to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to 18, according to the LSU study.</p>
<p>Mr. Phillippi said the states that have most recently changed their juvenile offender age to 18 — including Mississippi in 2010 — have had smooth transitions and have in some cases saved money.</p>
<p>It is more expensive to house a juvenile offender on a daily basis, but they typically are released sooner than adult offenders, advocates say. In addition, there are some 17-year-olds who shouldn't be locked up at all. They should be in community-based education or treatment programs.</p>
<p>Research shows that the vast majority of juveniles grow out of antisocial activity as they become adults and learn to control impulsive behavior, according to the LSU study. Felons who are 17 years old are equally good candidates for rehabilitation as younger offenders committing the same crimes, researchers have found.</p>
<p>Of course, there are young people who are 17 — and even younger — who commit violent acts. The juvenile system may not be appropriate in those cases.</p>
<p>The LSU study recommends raising the juvenile offender age only for routine offenses. State law provides for the transfer of offenders as young as 14 to adult court for some other violent crimes. Juvenile advocates who hope the Legislature will raise the juvenile age to 18 this year say they aren't pushing to change that law.</p>
<p>No legislation has been filed yet, and the details will be important to understand.</p>
<p>But Louisiana has taken a misguided approach to sentencing for years, and not only for 17-year-olds.</p>
<p>The state's prison population doubled over the past 20 years to 40,000, mainly because of mandatory minimum sentences. "Only 37 percent of offenders in Louisiana have been convicted of violent crimes ... and the average sentence for a drug-related crime is almost 10 years," according to a 2014 report from Blueprint Louisiana, a statewide citizen group focused on reforms in criminal justice, education and other issues.</p>
<p>Using that many resources for prisons takes money away from education and health care and other vital services. When you consider the lost human potential, the costs are even greater.</p>
<p>And it is even worse to give up on children who have made a mistake and most likely will change their ways if given a chance.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2016/02/juvenile_offender_age.html#incart_river_mobileshort_home">MORE>></a></p>