Legislation that would lower the age from 18 to 17 at which a person charged with a felony could be charged as an adult successfully cleared the Senate in a 30-9 vote. New Orleans Democratic Senator Royce Duplessis says putting juveniles in adult court and correctional systems is not the answer.
“It will do absolutely nothing to make us safer. In fact, I firmly believe that this bill has a tendency to make us less safe. Not just as a public and as a community but our sheriffs and our guards who work in these facilities.”
The bill would Repeal the Raise the Age Act approved in 2017. It’s resulted in many 17 year old offenders being charged as juveniles for crime. West Monroe Republican Senator Jay Morris says having 17-year-olds in the juvenile justice facilities is not working.
“A juvenile, 17 year old, if he had been in an adult facility he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to grab a pipe and smash the head of a corrections officer.”
Turkey Creek Senator Heather Cloud says an increase in crime including deadly shootings, home invasions and carjackings was the motivation behind the bill. She says the state has suffered from high crime rate and the current system for juvenile offenders is broken.
“But reality again is that crime is out of control. We are ranked the 50th state in the nation in crime. Obviously the things we have been doing in the name of longsuffering and love are not working.”
Duplessis points from 2017-2020 the number of under 18 crimes decreased from 6400 to 3700. He says putting juveniles in adult jails isn’t going to solve the problem.
“This bill does nothing in terms of investments. This bill does nothing with respect to addressing the issues that lead this young people here to begin with.”
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