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Politics & Government

Capitol DisPatch: A Trio of Juvenile Justice Bills

Gov. Dannel Malloy signs legislation aimed at rebalancing the scales.

Ending racial disparity, decreasing recidivism, and making the system more fair and accountable are lofty goals to be sure. But children of color are more likely to enter the juvenile justice system and are treated more harshly than white peers, according to the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance. To address that, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a trio of bills earlier this month.

“I support the notion that youth are redeemable. If I can put less young people in juvenile facilities in my district that’s a good thing,” said state Sen. John Kissel, a Republican representing East Granby, Enfield, Granby, Somers, Suffield, Windsor, Windsor Locks in the 7th Senate District.

One piece of legislation now requires a court order to send anyone arrested on a juvenile charge to detention.

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“Going to detention is a big deal. It’s traumatic for the child and extremely expensive for taxpayers,” Abby Anderson, executive director of the alliance, said. “Kids should only be there if they can’t be safely managed in the community. Race should never enter into that or any other decision we make about how youth are treated.”

Three state studies showed that children of color are detained at higher rates than their white peers. The state’s research showed poverty, seriousness of offense or location didn’t account for the disparity. Race alone determined whether a child was confined, according to the alliance.

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“The intent behind this [racial disparity measure] is to ensure the system is more cautious about detaining children before their court date,” Mike Lawlor, Undersecretary for Criminal Justice, said. “We learned that far more African American and Latino kids end up being sent to juvenile than white kids. That means we need an extra set of neutral eyes on this.”

State Rep. John Hetherington, a Republican representing New Canaan and Wilton in the 135th House District, favors the legislation.

“The thrust is to try to reduce impact for juveniles in prisons — particularly because a conclusion has been reached that there is a disproportionate balance,” Hetherington, who is a ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, said. “If we are really careful that violent juveniles will be separate, and there is no serious flight risk, then this is good.

There are many reasons for the imbalance, Lawlor said.

Lawlor spoke of his own past work as a prosecutor where he could see how decisions were made unintentionally. He recalled sometimes deciding to keep white youth out of the system because he thought they wouldn’t survive in the system.

“By no means is this a solution to the problem,” Lawlor said. “We need to address attitudes that drive this. Judges need to be as diverse as the people they preside over. We need to get more African American, Latino and women judges. You want a culturally sensitive judge dealing with these youth.”

Overall it’s a good piece of legislation, said State Sen. Toni Boucher, a Republican representing Bethel, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport, and Wilton in the 26th Senate District.

Boucher agreed the problem is complex. She also said some kids have more access to support, more alternatives and more people working to get the kid out.

“It’s hard to say if it will work or not,” Boucher said. “Depends on how competent the judge is. Releasing just for a quota doesn't make sense. It’s particularly cruel to subject folks in poorer neighborhoods to more crime.”

The governor also signed legislation to keep the state’s Raise the Age reform on track.

Previously, Connecticut was one of only three states to send 16-year-olds to the adult system, even for the most minor crimes. In Connecticut, 16-year-olds were returned to the juvenile system last year. In 2012, 17-year-olds will be as well. More serious crimes will still be treated as adult matters.

“My observations — always supportive of raise the age. Depending on the crime, youth can still be redeemed. And they can still be treated as an adult if they commit a very violent crime,” Kissel said

Although the new policy might strain the system, it’s still the right thing to do, Kissel said, adding that it puts Connecticut in line with the rest of the country.

Another bill, an Act Concerning Juvenile Reentry, will help youth who had been in detention to re-enter school faster. Previously, many children finishing their commitment to the Department of Children and Families faced long, logistical delays to re-register in their local public schools.

“Kids belong in school,” Kissel said. “Getting them re-enrolled as quickly as possible keeps them on track and out of trouble. We were finding kids who had to wait a month or more to resume their schooling. That didn’t make sense.”

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