Share:
House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 19, 2021 11:34 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Liz Hanbidge |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Reviewing Juvenile Cases (former HB1060) |
| Each year, an estimated 250,000 children are prosecuted in adult criminal courts and are subject to the consequences of adult criminal conviction. While many states have made legislative changes to raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to 18, five states still automatically prosecute 17-year-olds as adults (Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin), and all states allow children charged with certain offenses to be prosecuted in adult courts. For this reason, I will be introducing a resolution to urge district attorneys in Pennsylvania to recognize this and review juvenile cases with a focus on rehabilitation versus incarceration. Too many youth are incarcerated in prisons and jails throughout the country instead of being placed into rehabilitative programs and support systems. By encouraging rehabilitation instead of incarceration, we can decrease the amount of youth taken from their families and instead help reduce the rates of juvenile crime and recidivism. As legislators, it is our duty to recognize that the practice of incarcerating youth versus providing them with rehabilitative support does more harm than good. For the future of our children, please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation. |
Introduced as HR70