Press Release
The following press release is available for download from the Juvenile Justice Initiative website, it has been provided in full below for reference. The Juvenile Justice Initiative has also prepared a fact sheeet on the new law. Read the original language of Senate Bill 2275.
Juvenile Justice Initiative
413 West Monroe
Springfield, Illinois 62704
Telephone: 217-522-7970
www.jjustice.org
February 10, 2009
For More Information, Contact:
Betsy Clarke 847-894-4206 Mary Reynolds 217-522-7970
New Illinois Law Offers 17 Year-Olds Charged With Misdemeanor Chance in Juvenile Court
Juvenile Court Reform Brings Illinois In Line With Most States
SPRINGFIELD, IL -- Beginning January 2010, 17-year-olds charged with misdemeanor offenses will no longer be tried in adult court but instead will be tried in juvenile court with access to rehabilitative services, according to recently enacted legislation, Public Act 95-1031.
Illinois will join 38 other states and the District of Columbia that consider 18 as the age of adult jurisdiction for misdemeanors. Senate Bill 2275, which the Governor signed into law on February 10, 2009 does not change the age for felonies, but it does create a task force to examine issues surrounding raising adult jurisdiction for felonies from age 17 to age 18.
“With this change in law, Illinois recognizes the importance of treating low-level juvenile offenders in juvenile court instead of condemning them to the adult system,” stated Diane Geraghty, Director of the Loyola Civitas ChildLaw Center, lead entity for the MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change initiative in Illinois. “This incremental approach makes sense and will improve public safety, save money, and save kids.”
“High school juniors and seniors who happen to be 17 years old are not adults,” said George W. Timberlake, retired chief judge of the 2nd Judicial Circuit. “In no other area of law, do we allow them to have the rights of adults. We should not send them to an adult criminal system where their chances of committing more crimes are much higher.”
Research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control concluded that trying youth in juvenile court keeps communities safer because youth tried in the adult court are 34 percent more likely to reoffend than youth tried in the juvenile court.
According to research conducted by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, juveniles are developmentally less competent than adults. The brain systems that govern impulse control, planning, and thinking ahead are still developing well beyond age 18, and adolescents are less able to weigh long-term consequences of a crime, and more likely to be swayed by peer influence.
“By bringing 17-year-olds back to juvenile court, Illinois recognizes the adolescent brain is not fully developed and that, unlike an adult, a teenager is less likely to make sound judgments,” said Paula Wolff, Senior Executive, Chicago Metropolis 2020. “This change in law will give young people a greater opportunity to be rehabilitated and make them less likely to commit crimes later in life.”
Beginning a youth in juvenile court provides more latitude in providing services such as mental health, drug treatment, and more appropriate community-based services under the Balanced and Restorative Justice approach to juvenile justice. The new law has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2010, to provide ample time for planning and implementation.
“To give teenagers a chance at education, jobs, and housing, we have to give them services at least until they graduate from high school,” said Betsy Clarke, President of the Juvenile Justice Initiative. “We should not condemn them to a lifetime criminal record based on mistakes made as a youth.”
The new law also creates a balanced task force that will look at the issues surrounding raising the age of jurisdiction for felonies. The task force is expected to present a report by January 2010.
Senate Bill 2275 was sponsored by Senators John Cullerton (D-Chicago), Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago), and Donne Trotter (D-Chicago), and Representatives Arthur Turner (D-Chicago), Patricia Bellock (R-Westmont), Annazette Collins (D-Chicago), Elga Jefferies (D-Chicago), Barbara Currie (D-Chicago), Constance Howard (D-Chicago), Esther Gholar (D-Chicago), Eddie Washington (D-Waukegan), Milton Patterson (D-Chicago), Charles Jefferson (D-Rockford), Kathleen Ryg (D-Vernon Hills), Karen May (D-Highwood), Kenneth Dunkin (D-Chicago), William Davis (D-East Hazel Crest), and LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago).
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