The new year brought good news for teenagers and their parents. As of January 1, 2019, children younger than 16 cannot be tried in adult court, even when they are accused of serious crimes such as murder and rape. The passing of the new law shows that legislators in California are now starting to recognize that juveniles are just that – children.
“The new law is not meant as a means to allow children to get away with anything they want, as the state prosecution would lead some to believe,” says Jo-Anna Nieves of The Nieves Law Firm. “It simply recognizes that children are not adults. They do not have the same critical thinking skills as adults, and they are more vulnerable than adults. This law forces the justice system to realize that as well.”
Senate Bill 1391 was written with the intent to differentiate between children and adults and to implement rules that will do the same. The lawmakers that authored the bill point out that children do not have the ability to distinguish right from the wrong in the same way adults do.
It also asserts that children are more likely to suffer from learning disabilities or mental health disorders than adults. In addition, it acknowledges that adults can easily influence children, and that adults may sometimes use this to get children to help them with criminal activity. These differences are genuine, but they are not reasons to try children as adults, or to force them to serve sentences alongside adults.
The latest bill is one of several passed over the last few years attempting to bring justice to California’s juvenile system. Senate Bill 260, also known as the Justice for Juveniles with Adult Prison Sentences Act, went into effect in 2014. This law required parole boards to review cases of children sentenced to jail when they were under the age of 18. Proposition 57 was also passed in 2016, which gave judges, not the prosecution, the discretion to try a child in juvenile court rather than adult court.
While past measures have improved the juvenile system, it is clear that the newest law will provide juveniles the justice they deserve, with the right to be tried as children.
