JUVENILE HEADACHES AHEAD?
Last-minute fixes to a bill intended to be tough on juvenile crime may ultimately give the state more than just a few headaches.
The biggest of those may be in how to house teens who commit a second serious offense but under the new law — headed for Gov. Bill Lee’s signature — now would face adult incarceration. However, the measure says they must be held separately from adult inmates until they turn 24.
The problems are compounded by the fact the juveniles also have the right to a jury trial if given what is called a blended sentence, one that first calls for time spent in a juvenile facility. While juvenile detention hearings are required to be held within 30 days, waits for jury trials can be a year or more.
“I’m not sure they thought this through,” Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Robert Philyaw told this page Tuesday. “I don’t think [Gov. Lee] will veto it, but I think there will have to be some understanding of some of the procedural issues involved.”
He said there is a lot to digest with the legislation that is “so fresh and new.”
Careful communication among juvenile courts, criminal courts, the Department of Children’s Services and sheriff’s departments will be required to ensure juveniles and adults throughout the process are kept separate, Philyaw said.
State Sen. Kerry Roberts, R-Springfield, expressed similar concerns before the bill’s passage last week.
“So where will all these individuals be housed?” he asked. “These individuals … would not be housed in the general population of the Tennessee Department of Correction. They would have to be housed separately.”
He also indicated concern over their housing while awaiting trials for the adult portion of their sentence. In criminal court settings, youth cannot even be placed within sight or sound of adult prisoners in holding areas.
“I’m concerned about some unintended consequences,” Roberts said. “My local people say youthful offenders are likely to be in solitary confinement (in county jail) for that period of time.”
Figures from the Administrative Office of the Courts indicate around 440 youth were charged with serious crimes that could draw a blended sentence or automatic transfer to adult court in each of the past two years. And with state juvenile detention space for 669 teens nearly maxed out, the state could quickly have a massive housing problem.
Philyaw said blended sentences have been used in other states, and he has been a proponent of “something between a juvenile justice commitment and outright transfer” to an adult prison. “I’m not opposed to having more options for those that fall in between there.”
However, he said, “the difference is drastic. [Some] kids can be rehabilitated and leave it here, so they don’t start their young life as a criminal.”
While the up to 30 days for a teen to wait for a juvenile hearing is “an eternity,” Philyaw said, a year or more to wait for an adult trial “is ancient history. I’m very concerned about the timing and who’s going to pay for the housing.”
And, he said, there’s a lot of other procedural considerations such as confidentiality. With juveniles, everything is confidential. With trials in criminal courts, “anybody can walk in there.”
An additional tenet added to the bill as it was completed binds the juvenile offender — in order to satisfy the potential suspension of the adult portion of his sentence — to attend or graduate from high school, attend the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) or get a job. While TCATs often can be a solid route to a family wage job, the fact the bill made no accommodation for community college or four-year college is peculiar.
“That to me makes no sense,” said state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, a past supporter of blended sentences, “because it penalizes that individual for choosing a different educational option.”
In this space Tuesday, we wrote of how the third grade reading law was cobbled together as the session wound down instead of legislators taking their time on an area so critical for Tennessee students. And, of course, Gov. Lee’s Education Freedom Act also was a victim of the quick wind-down.
Philyaw said assuming the governor signs the bill, he and other juvenile judges will have until Jan. 1, when the bill would go into effect, “to plow through the statute and figure out how best to handle it.” When the new legislature reconvenes in 2025, he said, some “small modifications” are likely.
State Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson and state Reps. Greg Martin, R-Hixson, Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, Greg Vital, R-Harrison, and Esther Helton-Haynes, R-East Ridge all voted for the measure. State Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, voted against it, and state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, the only member of the delegation Philyaw said consulted him about the bill, did not vote.
We believe there is room and call for legislators to be tough on juvenile crime, but, like the other issues, the details in a bill should be tackled and worked through before any final vote is taken. Yes, legislators can, and probably will, come back and tweak what they’ve done, but why not strive for ironing out the wrinkles on the front end?