A provision to keep 17-year-olds out of the adult criminal justice system was stripped from a bill this weekend as the Texas Legislature wrapped up the 84th Legislative Session.
Supporters of overhauling juvenile justice in Texas cheered the passage of two state bills even as some mourned the failure of a third that would have stopped the prosecution of 17-year-olds as adults.
Read the rest of this article at the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange.
On the morning of March 26, 2005, Jason Wang and two other teenagers, all disguised as utility workers, left a Mesquite, Texas, home with a safe containing nearly $70,000 in stolen cash and valuables.
In 1993, in an effort to alleviate juvenile court dockets of truancy cases, Texas lawmakers created a separate criminal school attendance offense, commonly known as “failure to attend school,” which is categorized as an adult Class C misdemeanor punishable under a municipal or justice of the peace court.
The vision for Texas’ juvenile justice system is to achieve successful outcomes for youth through a cohesive, comprehensive, front-end agency that keeps kids close to home and in their communities.
