Bench & Bar

JAN 2013

The Bench & Bar magazine is published to provide members of the KBA with information that will increase their knowledge of the law, improve the practice of law, and assist in improving the quality of legal services for the citizenry.

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CORRECTIONS Juvenile Justice Reform: More Bang for the Buck Juvenile offender programs also look terrific to us [Washington State]. Again we're interested in crime reduction . . . . We find out from the juvenile sector that we get some of the biggest returns. Our legislature has been taking money out of the adult system and putting it in the juvenile system . . . . You get more bang for the buck in the juvenile system.1 Steve Aos, Director Washington State Institute for Public Policy By Judge Robert Wiederstein INTRODUCTION juvenile justice task force was established in the Kentucky General Assembly's latest session.2 Its creation just after the historic amendments to the adult penal code shows a legislature moving toward an evidence-based corrections philosophy where recidivism is the concern.3 This philosophy should be extended to the juvenile code as well. From the 1990s' "juvenile super-predator" hysteria to the budget austerity of recent years, the General Assembly can get "more bang for the buck" and increase public safety through juvenile justice reform.4 A BACKGROUND In 1994, the United States juvenile violent crime index was at an all-time high and projected to increase.5 Then, national experts predicted that a wave of juvenile super-predators was inevitable.6 "Tough-on-crime" statutes were passed here and elsewhere throughout the '90s. The penalty for having a firearm on school property was increased.7 Children who were 14 years or older and used a firearm in the commission of a crime could be automatically transferred to adult court.8 The youthful offender statute was liberalized, making it easier for kids to be transferred to adult court.9 Just as juvenile violent crime peaked, Kentucky became the site of one of the nation's school shootings. On Dec. 1, 1997, three students were killed and five wounded at Heath High School in West Paducah, Ky.10 The "Kentucky Safe Schools Act" was enacted as emergency legislation on April 10, 1998.11 It created the Kentucky Center for Safe Schools, required mandatory crime reporting by school principals to law enforcement, and defined what a School Resource Officer is.12 Subsequent research has called many of these reforms into question. Worse, the reforms may have fed into Kentucky's growing adult inmate population, a population that grew at three times the national average.13 The justification for these changes—the juvenile violent crime index—is now gone: it is now at its lowest rate in 30 years.14 JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM SAVES MONEY Numerous examples of states saving money through juvenile justice reform exist. For example, Florida's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability January 2013 Bench & Bar 11

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