Treat Juvenile Violent Offenders more leniently?
Sunday's Daily Press reports on the arrest of two seventeen-year-olds on charges of murder, burglary, grand larceny, conspiracy, and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
During last Thursday's Voices for Children candidate forum, Robin Abbott, Democratic party candidate for delegate in the 93rd district staked out a position that Virginia should not routinely treat juveniles, like the two arrested, as adults because they have statistically different outcomes then those in juvenile facilities. (Her remarks are in the embedded video)
No matter how serious their crimes, young people, who are adjudicated as juveniles, cannot serve sentences past their 21st birthday. For the two arrested today, that would mean a sentence of not more than four years for murder, and the use of a firearm in a felony. Virginia and the 93rd district cannot afford a delegate so out of tune with public safety, favoring holding the two juveniles in the Daily Press story fully accountable for their actions.
1 comments:
[Abbott has] staked out a position that Virginia should not routinely treat juveniles, like the two arrested, as adults,
And what's the harm in that?
No matter how serious their crimes, young people, who are adjudicated as juveniles, cannot serve sentences past their 21st birthday
One heck of a leap there. From giving consideration to juveniles at the time of arrest to being sentenced as juveniles? Where did Abbott say they should be adjudicated as juveniles? She said she believed in consequences for actions.
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