Don't charge juveniles as adults, advocates urge

Virginians who believe the state convicts too many juveniles in adult court packed a legislative hearing Tuesday in hopes of convincing officials to work on changing the state code section that is controlling in those circumstances.

But instead of walking away encouraged that change is on the horizon, the crowd at Tuesday's meeting of the Virginia State Crime Commission was dismayed to hear that an ongoing study of the juvenile transfer issue will continue for another year.

That means it is unlikely significant amendments to applicable Virginia laws will be enacted during the 2010 General Assembly session.

Crime Commission co-chair, Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax, told the crowd that any bill seeking to overhaul the law has a "zero point zero percent" chance of making it out of his Courts of Justice Committee in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates that tends to take a hard line approach to law and order issues.

Despite the expected delay, members of several advocacy groups held a news conference in the State Capitol Tuesday to call for immediate reform.

According to the Legal Aid Justice Center, which recently produced a study about the transfer issue, an estimated 700 youths annually receive adult felony convictions in Virginia. Many of those juvenile offenders are coerced into accepting plea deals that they don't understand, advocates assert.

The current trend, advocates say, began in the mid-1990s when Virginia lawmakers stiffened criminal laws and abolished parole.

Not everyone sees it that way, however.

Winchester Commonwealth's Attorney Alex Iden told the Crime Commission that the law is properly written as is, placing decisions with prosecutors who handle such cases.

"It's a terrible responsibility, but it's one that we have and we take it very seriously," Iden said.

A short term fix suggested by Department of Juvenile Justice director Barry Green is to create an appeals process for juveniles whose cases are routed to adult courts.

The Virginia Supreme Court is in the process of compiling data on the trends of juveniles in the adult corrections system, but hasn't completed its analysis.

-- Julian Walker

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