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
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