Bill Prevents Offenders Under 16 From Being Tried In Court

 

EMILY TRAN Staff Writer

 

A recent bill was passed by Governor Jerry Brown prohibiting offenders under sixteen years old from being tried in adult criminal court. Prosecutors were previously able to request to send 14-15 year olds to adult court for crimes such as murder and kidnapping. However, now that the bill has passed, those under sixteen who commit crimes will be sent to juvenile facilities rather than prisons.

The bill has its detractors and also its supporters, especially among young people.

“This bill is fair because children are not mature yet. They don’t have as much wisdom as adults and cannot be blamed fully for their actions. They should be guided carefully,” sophomore Kelly Ma said.

The reasoning behind this bill is to give a chance to young offenders by changing their behavior instead of transferring them to prison where they statistically have a less likely chance of being reformed. Some people, however, believe that juvenile facilities do not do enough to change the behavior of the most violent offenders.

“Since [many] children have a fixed mindset, they’ll still be more likely to commit the crime again in the future. They should be punished based on the crime they commit,” junior James He said.

Many victims of crimes and their families oppose this bill as they believe it protects and possibly limits the responsibility placed on young offenders who commit the most severe of crimes. This bill could be applied to cases and offenders such as Daniel Marsh who killed a couple, Oliver “Chip” Northup Jr. and Claudia Maupin, just before turning 16-years-old in 2013. He was sentenced to fifty two years in prison. Marsh, however, may now be transferred to a juvenile detention center since he was under 16 at the time of the murders.

Another case the bill could affect is that of Adrian Gonzalez, a fifteen year old, who stabbed, strangled and raped his 8-year-old neighbor in 2015. This case is currently waiting in adult court.