Key Points
By allowing young people the opportunity to demonstrate improvement sooner than the 40-year mandatory sentence, taxpayer money could be saved without causing a decrease in public safety.
The best legislative solution to correct this injustice has already been proposed in past sessions. “Raise the Age” legislation would have increased the automatic age of criminal jurisdiction from 17 to 18, meaning that minors would automatically be processed through the juvenile system. It also provided for judicial discretion to transfer youth with the most serious offenses to the adult system on a case-by-case basis.
To once again lead the way and to create meaningful change in the lives of individuals affected and positive change in our communities, Texas should seriously consider implementing and funding needed juvenile justice reforms, and hopefully, as in the past, other states and even the federal government will follow.
Press release: Justice Reform Can’t Ignore Juveniles in the Lone Star State
Image credit: rawf8
Featured Publications
Philip Rossetti
June 1, 2023
Devin Hartman
May 30, 2023
Stacey McKenna
May 22, 2023
Chelsea Boyd
May 16, 2023
Jonathan Bydlak
May 11, 2023
Stacey McKenna
May 9, 2023
Lisel Petis, Alan Smith
April 20, 2023
Adam Thierer
April 20, 2023
C. Jarrett Dieterle
April 18, 2023
