Kids treated as adult felons will act as such

Thursday's Observer editorial:

At a time when Democrats and Republicans agree on almost nothing, many agree on this:

Throwing thousands of kids into the adult justice system, mostly for misdemeanors, leads to one of two outcomes, both bad. They are either put right back on the street on probation or they get incarcerated with adults, scarring their psyche, marring their record and leading them down a road to nowhere.

Yet that’s what North Carolina does with 16- and 17-year-olds. We and New York are the only states that take kids barely old enough to drive and automatically funnel them into the adult system.

Forty-eight other states see a better way, and North Carolina should join them. The General Assembly should pass legislation this year that raises the age of juveniles from 16 to 18. Non-violent 16- and 17-year-old offenders should be dealt with in the juvenile justice system, with approaches that blend punishment and rehabilitation.

Bills to do that are sitting in committee. There are seven primary sponsors in the House and Senate – five Republicans and two Democrats. The bills stalled last year because of concerns about the cost of adding thousands of teens to the juvenile justice system. (Intense treatment, punishment and rehabilitation are more expensive than a revolving door.) But with bipartisan support, legislators should find a responsible way to make that transition.

Rep. Marilyn Avila, R-Wake, told us Wednesday that she and other legislators are laying the groundwork for that now. They would raise the age in 6-month increments, and they want to ensure that the community infrastructure exists to handle the influx of teens. These kids need “intensive interventions, both in their lives and in the lives of their families,” Avila said. That gets at the cause, rather than punishing the symptom. Legislators will consider what types of services currently exist and where the gaps are.

More than just segregating children from adults, which is laudable in itself, this would be a whole new approach to stopping juvenile crime in North Carolina. It recognizes the evidence that having an adult criminal record makes it less likely that teens will finish school, get a job or enter the military. Studies show that teens who go through the adult system are 33 percent more likely to commit another crime than teens who go through the juvenile system. A 16-year-old who has committed a misdemeanor is worth not giving up on just yet.

Biological research shows that the brains of teens that age are not fully developed. They do not control their impulses or fully appreciate the consequences of their actions. The juvenile justice system has significant potential to rehabilitate. The adult system has little.

North Carolina’s current law has been in place since 1919. We have learned a lot since then. If North Carolina’s approach was better, some of those 48 states would have followed our lead. But the movement has been in the opposite direction.

Moving these kids to the juvenile system will cost money in the short term. But given a teen’s probable trajectory after being saddled with an adult record, it’s an investment likely to save in the long term.