Published: March 1, 2024
By: Jacob Mathews LSU Manship School News Service
Photo by: Courtesy John M. Schroder Louisiana State Treasurer
By: By Jacob Mathews LSU Manship School News Service
Posted 10:31 AM, Mar 01, 2024
and last updated 10:31 AM, Mar 01, 2024
BATON ROUGE–-As Louisiana undertakes a massive overhaul of criminal justice laws, one of the most controversial changes is putting more 17-year-olds on trial for crimes as adults. The move backpedals on a measure passed seven years ago that treated teens under 18 as juveniles in most cases.
Anti-crime lawmakers, following the lead of sheriffs, prosecutors, and a newly elected Republican governor, are responding to a spike in juvenile violent crime – simple robbery, battery, carjacking, terrorism, kidnapping, assault and even murder and rape. They and Gov. Jeff Landry say adult gangs have been recruiting teenagers 17 years old and younger to commit crimes for which penalties will be lighter than those for adults.
Opponents argue that juvenile crime rates had been coming down since the “Raise the Age” law was passed in 2016 before rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some question whether the new laws will have harmful side-effects given that prosecutors already had leeway to charge juveniles as adults for the worst crimes.
According to reports by the state’s Office of Juvenile Justice, the number of youths serving time had begun easing again last year.
Read more at KATC.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 
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