Point of View: For Kids' Sake, Reform Juvenile Justice System

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/opinion/point-view-for-kids-sake-reform-juvenile-justice-system/Sle0Rchrsxshjepg0zo0MI/

Former assistant public defender for Palm Beach County, Fl, Talitha Hazelton, discusses the need to pass CS/SB 192 which will provide a barrier to prosecutors to "direct file" children charged with specific offenses to adult court.  The article did not include the specific about the bill, so I was able to find a summary from the ACLU (https://aclufl.org/2017/03/06/the-florida-campaign-for-criminal-justice-reform-launches-in-advance-of-legislative-session/):

Children Tried as Adults – Florida prosecutes more children as adults than any other state. CS/SB 192 would grant judges oversight of prosecutor’s “direct-file” discretion, remove certain nonviolent offenses from eligibility for adult charges and retain voting rights for children convicted as adults.

While I had a general understanding of the different "intended" focus of juvenile court (rehabilitation) to that of adult court (punishment and maybe rehabilitation), I had not really considered how judges and jurors probably automatically consider a juvenile to be a "hardened criminal" just because he/she is being tried in adult court and should be punished.  It would be interesting to see the conviction rate and sentence severity for juveniles tried in adult court verses tried in juvenile court in Florida.  It would also be useful to find out how many Floridians are aware that prosecutors can send juveniles to adult courts without a process to ensure that the child is beyond "redemption" and in need of an adult level of punishment.  How many true criminals has Florida created by treating children who have made mistakes as career criminal adults?

I appreciated Hazelton's reflection on the support and child welfare focus of the juvenile system where children are treated like the growing, developing person they are with the belief that they can learn from mistakes and become better.  The focus on removing the child from the situation from which deviant behavior arose into an environment of supported responsibility and education should help many children to move onto a better way of living.  Although I do think Hazelton provides the most positive portrayal of Florida's juvenile justice system that may be a bit idealized, she does show the contrast the dehumanizing, punitive aspect of adult court from that of nurturing and rehabilitation of juvenile court. There is a huge difference between viewing a person as someone with potential needed guidance to succeed and considering someone without redemption and in need of punishment.  It will be interesting in this time of "law and order" if the Florida legislature will consider how the system is failing these children and ruining their future to be contributing citizens or if it will just continue to funnel these children into prisons and very bleak futures.