The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has for years chronicled the problems plaguing Georgia’s juvenile justice system. The newspaper reported in a series of articles last year issues such as inadequate staffing, violent conditions and children locked behind bars for relatively minor offenses. The AJC will continue to closely follow the state’s solutions, which includes this effort to change the way Georgia punishes its youngest criminals.
The chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court called for extensive reform to the juvenile justice system, an exhortation that served as a prelude Thursday to the introduction of sweeping legislation meant to improve the state’s treatment of its youngest offenders.
Chief Justice Carole Hunstein, as well as bill sponsor Rep. Wendell Willard and juvenile justice advocates, said too many of the wrong kids are being locked up in Georgia and the state needs to approach the problem differently. They urged state legislators to make reforms that would divert less dangerous juvenile offenders away from lockups and into community programs, as well as address the minors’ substance abuse issues, problems at home and other challenges faced on the street and at school.
“They’re not all thugs,” Clayton County Chief Juvenile Court Judge Steve Teske said of the young offenders who have appeared before him. “A lot of them have made very, very stupid decision as they are being juveniles. I think we need to slow down and realize this and take a better look.”
The bill sponsored by Willard, R-Sandy Springs, allows judges to send non-violent juveniles to community based-programs instead of one of the state’s seven youth development campuses, which are high-security lockups. It also calls for trimming the lists of “designated felonies,” which are more serious crimes that automatically lead to incarceration. That would give judges the authority choose alternatives to high-security detention.
Last year, legislators passed a similar law that allow judges to divert the less dangerous adult criminals away from prison into community-based programs like drug courts to address the root causes of the criminal behavior.
The proposal to fix the juvenile justice system comes with the political weight of the governor as well as the endorsement of the state’s top jurist.
“No one is urging Georgia to become soft on crime,” Hunstein said in her State of the Judiciary address to the Legislature Thursday morning. “Some of our juvenile offenders have committed heinous, violent crimes and must be treated as adults and locked away from society. But they are the minority. For our citizens’ sake, we must do better with the majority. The fact is, many of our juveniles deserve second chances.”
The legislation includes recommendations from the Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform for Georgians. The council compared Georgia’s juvenile justice system to other states that are recognized for having successful and innovative approaches.
The idea is to reverse some of the harsher policies of the 1990s on how Georgia punishes its youngest offenders and to reserve incarceration for the most hardened juveniles who are most likely to commit future crimes.
“The bill focuses on taking children who are not really doing bad, bad crimes and finding ways to keep them in the community instead of state detention,” Willard said. “Certain types of crimes do not require detention.”
Advocates say the proposed changes could save the state $88 million over the next five years — on top of the $250 million in savings attributed to the reforms in the adult system.
Expectations are that the reforms would mean 640 fewer teenagers would be put into an expensive, secure facility each year. About 38 percent of the juveniles sent to a YDC had committed nonviolent offenses, according to state data.
“Spending $91,000 a year to lock up a juvenile and getting 65 percent recidivism in return is not working,” Hunstein said. “We can be smarter with taxpayer dollars. More importantly, we can produce a safer Georgia.”
The governor has proposed spending $5 million on pilot programs in the communities most troubled by juvenile offenders.
“It’s shocking how much we spend on juvenile offenders in secure beds with so little result,” said Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, who served on the governor’s commission. “Clearly, we can do a better job.”
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