The state-prison population may get younger as greater numbers of violent teenagers find themselves being treated like violent adults.
In October's special legislative session, state legislators passed a bill making it easier for prosecutors to move juveniles into the adult courts."The Legislature made it very clear that they wanted serious offenses, violent offenses, committed by juveniles above the age of 16 dealt with more seriously," said Deputy Salt Lake County Attorney Rick Oddone.
Legisators' efforts to "get tough" with violent teens pleases some and alarms others. Just how it will affect both the adult system and the juvenile system depends on who's talking.
Youth Corrections officials are concerned for a couple of reasons. The first is that while the law allows for automatic certification of juveniles 16 and older in certain cases, a district court judge can sentence that same teenager to serve all or part of his sentence in a juvenile facility or program.
"To me, it's a resource problem," said Gary Dalton, director of the Division of Youth Corrections. "I'd just as soon if they judge them as adults that they treat them as adults, too."
Bill Nelsen, director of Youth Corrections' Region II, says the law just targets the wrong population. "They should have targeted the most delinquent kids - kids that have been through Decker Lake (Youth Correctional Fa-cil-i-ty)."
In addition to tying up badly needed beds, Nelsen fears juveniles tried as adults and then committed to Decker Lake for part of their sentence are a danger to the staff because the teens know they're going to state-prison facilities at the Point of the Mountain when their time's up there.
"I don't think any kid should be placed in an adult system until we've exhausted all resources in the juvenile system," Nelsen said, adding that the law doesn't require a look at a juvenile's criminal or treatment history, just the nature of the alleged crime.
"Some kids might only have one or two offenses. Some of these kids are going to be casualties of the system."
Police officers express relief that kids committing violent crimes will be dealt with more severely earlier on.
"What more serious crime can you commit than murder?" asked Sandy detective Kent Cravens, who deals with teenagers daily as a member of the Metro Gang Unit. "Twenty-five or 30 years ago, there was a difference in the types of crimes juveniles committed than the crimes adults committed. Those lines have become very blurry."
The fear that children will learn bad or criminal behavior from adults in prison is moot if the child is convicted of murder, Cravens added.
Dalton and Nelsen agree there are differences in the types of crimes juveniles are committing today compared to previous decades.
"Kids have always been causing problems and committing crimes," Dalton said. "But now it's the fear of randomness. That random piece is what really takes the community's breath away."
Dalton believes the community often sees the division's attempt to reform and punish juveniles with the least restrictive option as lenient. But what people must remember is that every juvenile locked up eventually gets out, he said.
"Locking them up gets them off the streets, but it doesn't solve any problems," Nelsen said.
Oddone doesn't believe the changes will have much of an impact on either system because of the small group targeted by the law.
"You'll probably see a larger number of juveniles tried in the adult system for use of deadly weapons," Oddone said. "Even those changes probably won't dramatically affect adult numbers. There are a small number of very dangerous juveniles."
In some cases, juveniles tried as adults get lighter sentences than their counterparts, Nelsen said. He cites an example of two teenagers involved in a murder. One was tried as an adult and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He served his sentence in jail for a short time and then was released.
The other teenager was tried as a juvenile and sent to Decker Lake where he spent more time locked up, Nelsen said.
Dalton said he wouldn't be surprised to see legislators reduce the age courts consider a person an adult, now 18. It's already happening in other states, he said.
Another thing that could happen, he said, is moving all convicted criminals age 17 to 21 into the adult court and corrections systems.
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Certifying juveniles as adults
One result of the Utah Legislature's special session last fall was an amended process to certify juvenile defendants as adults.
Before
Previous methods of certifying a juvenile:
-A certification hearing, where evidence is presented as to why the case warrants a move to adult court.
-Decision by a prosecutor to file a case directly to adult court because of the age of the defendatn, the defandant's criminal history and the severity of the alleged crime.
Now
Beside the aforementioned reasons for certifying a juvenile as an adult, tow more allowances have been added:
-In cases of aggravated murder
-in cases of murder, attempted murder and first-degree felonies when the defendants is 16 years old or older
Changes
Key changes in the certification process include:
-Juvenile court loses jurisdiction of aggravated murder.
-Juvenile court judges can no longer recall any case back to juvenile court, such as those involving the use of a firearm.