More Texas Juveniles Being Prosecuted as Adults

Two years ago at this time, the TYC scandal was quickly becoming major news throughout the state. In response, the Lege enacted several reforms. One change lowered the maximum age of a TYC inmate from 21 to 19. Critics predicted an increase in the number of certification proceedings, where the state seeks to prosecute juvenile offenders as adults. This prediction has come true. From the Houston Chronicle:

Scores of youthful offenders are being sent straight into the adult criminal justice system — 246 of them last year alone — for crimes they committed as juveniles.

Juvenile justice advocates are blaming last year’s 22 percent spike on a reform effort launched two years ago that was designed to protect younger offenders. They say young people who are easier to rehabilitate are being forced into a harsher adult setting that can’t meet their needs.

…“It’s pretty simple,” said Jill Mata, Bexar County’s chief juvenile prosecutor. “If we didn’t have enough time to work with these kids within the juvenile justice system (before they turned 19), then we were faced with no option but to certify them as adults.”

…Bill Hawkins, who until last month was Harris County’s chief juvenile prosecutor, said the length of time a youth would have at TYC was one of the major factors for him in deciding whether to seek adult certification for particular kids. “When the window was shortened, certification became a more viable option in some cases,” he said.

Texas allows juveniles as young as 14 to stand trial as adults for capital and first degree-felonies. Fifteen-year-olds can stand trial as adults for any kind of felony.

Last year, Bexar County certified 28 juveniles as adults, a 75 percent increase from the previous year. Tarrant County certified 11 juveniles last year. This was nearly three times the number from the previous year. Why is this a problem?

…[S]tudies funded by the federal government indicate that juveniles who are transferred to the adult system are more likely to re-offend.

Stan DeGerolami, superintendent at TYC’s Giddings Unit, which runs a program for violent youths, said he believes juveniles who need incarceration are best served in facilities designed for them.

“Who do you want living next door to you? A young man who’s been in a facility (for youths) or one who’s spent five or 10 years in an adult prison? My choice would be the former,” DeGerolami said.

It appears, however, that the key legislators have no interest in revisiting this particular issue. Sen. Whitmire, who chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, indicated that he is not convinced there is a connection between the lowering of the age limit and the increase in certifications. He told the Chronicle that the Lege would not be changing anything at this point.