Juvenile Justice Measure Limits Charging Youth as Adults

SB 936 (Powell) passed its first committee of reference, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee ( 5-1). The bill revises the circumstances under which juveniles may be treated as an adult in the court system.

There is currently no minimum age at which a child can be transferred to the adult criminal justice system through the process of indictment. 14 is the minimum age for other methods of transferring juveniles to the adult system. Among various reforms, SB 192 establishes age 14 as the minimum age for indictment and narrows the offenses for which a child can be tried as an adult through the process of direct file.

Florida prosecutes more children in the adult criminal justice system than any other state. Since 2009, more than 14,000 children - some as young as 10 years old - have been prosecuted as adults in Florida.

"While there is no question that violent and dangerous youth need to be confined for their safety and that of society, children should not be treated as though they are equal to adults,"  wrote Bishop William Wack CSC, Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, in an opinion-editorial. "Placing children in adult jails is a sign of failure, not a solution." Bishop Bill is the moderator for the Florida Catholic Conference Prison Ministry Committee.

FCCB supports SB 936 as a positive step toward protecting both youthful offenders and society.