Post by Logan on Jun 13, 2016 1:45:48 GMT -6
Tom Cotton blocking bill that would ban jailing juveniles for non-criminal offenses
LITTLE ROCK — U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., says putting juveniles behind bars for offenses such as skipping school or running away from home is an option that judges need to have, but some advocates for juvenile justice reform say the practice is inhumane and risks criminalizing already at-risk youths.
Jailing juveniles
Cotton has blocked reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, which has created the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, set federal standards for the states' juvenile justice systems and provided funding for juvenile delinquency programs around the country. The act last received a five-year reauthorization in 2002, but Congress has continued to appropriate money each year for the programs it funds.
A bill filed last year to reauthorize the act would make several changes to it. One of those changes, which prompted Cotton to put a hold on the bill and block it from being passed in the Senate by unanimous consent, would be to end, after three years, the authority of judges to incarcerate juveniles for "status offenses," or offenses that only apply to juveniles, such as truancy and underage drinking.
Federal law prohibits the incarceration of juveniles for status offenses, but if a judge issues a court order and a juvenile violates it, the judge can order the juvenile detained or incarcerated under what is known as the valid court order, or VCO, exception.
Read more: swtimes.com/news/tom-cotton-blocking-bill-would-ban-jailing-juveniles-non-criminal-offenses
LITTLE ROCK — U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., says putting juveniles behind bars for offenses such as skipping school or running away from home is an option that judges need to have, but some advocates for juvenile justice reform say the practice is inhumane and risks criminalizing already at-risk youths.
Jailing juveniles
Cotton has blocked reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, which has created the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, set federal standards for the states' juvenile justice systems and provided funding for juvenile delinquency programs around the country. The act last received a five-year reauthorization in 2002, but Congress has continued to appropriate money each year for the programs it funds.
A bill filed last year to reauthorize the act would make several changes to it. One of those changes, which prompted Cotton to put a hold on the bill and block it from being passed in the Senate by unanimous consent, would be to end, after three years, the authority of judges to incarcerate juveniles for "status offenses," or offenses that only apply to juveniles, such as truancy and underage drinking.
Federal law prohibits the incarceration of juveniles for status offenses, but if a judge issues a court order and a juvenile violates it, the judge can order the juvenile detained or incarcerated under what is known as the valid court order, or VCO, exception.
Read more: swtimes.com/news/tom-cotton-blocking-bill-would-ban-jailing-juveniles-non-criminal-offenses