Passage of Bill Brings Juvenile Justice Reform One Step Closer

The Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill today that, if passed by lawmakers, will keep more of the state’s troubled children out of the adult criminal justice system, where they are more likely to be victimized and deprived of rehabilitative services.

“Alabama is one step closer to reforming the way we treat kids in the criminal justice system by passing this bill out of committee,” said Ebony Howard, managing attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Senator Vivian Figures’ bill is desperately needed to stem the tide of children needlessly pushed into a harsh adult system that does little more than destroy young lives. These children need a chance to turn their lives around. This bill provides that opportunity.”

The bill, SB 324, now goes to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

Alabama charges approximately 1,000 children as adults each year. Under state law, children between the ages of 14 and 17 may be sent into the adult system by a juvenile court judge for any crime. Those who are 16 or 17 are automatically charged as adults – or “direct-filed” – for certain crimes.

Research shows that sending children into the adult criminal justice system is not an effective way to rehabilitate young people or improve public safety.

Among other provisions, the bill seeks to repeal the state statute requiring all16- and 17-year-olds charged with certain crimes to be tried as adults; limit the number of offenses eligible for transfer to the adult system; and prohibit any child under the age of 18 from being held in adult facilities.