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Rep. Whiteford introduces plan to reform juvenile justice in Michigan
RELEASE|February 6, 2019

‘Raise the Age’ plan treats 17-year-olds as minors in court system

State Rep. Mary Whiteford today introduced legislation as part of a bipartisan plan to transform the way 17-year-olds are treated in Michigan’s criminal justice system.
Michigan is one of just four states to automatically prosecute 17-year-olds as adults when they’re accused of breaking the law. Whiteford said eliminating this outdated practice will help rehabilitate young offenders and reduce the likelihood of them breaking the law again in the future.

“Putting 17-year-olds into prison alongside older inmates puts the teenagers in harm and has been shown to have devastating psychological effects,” said Whiteford, of Casco Township. “Young offenders have much better outcomes when they go through the juvenile justice system, which has age-appropriate resources aimed at rehabilitation.”

The proposal would raise the age at which individuals are considered adults for the purposes of prosecuting and adjudicating criminal offenses, allowing 17-year-olds to be treated as minors within the juvenile system in most circumstances. Prosecutors will continue to have some discretion, allowing them to waive minors who commit violent crimes into the adult system when appropriate.

The plan also establishes a funding mechanism to help local counties deal with the increased costs from the uptick of juvenile offenders in the system.

“It’s more effective in the long run to invest our public tax dollars in rehabilitation programs that help teenagers and their families get to the root cause of their problems,” Whiteford said. “This simple solution will help decrease the number of repeat offenders and make our communities safer.”

Whiteford said no other state devotes a larger share of its budget to prisons than Michigan. In the 1970s – when Michigan’s prison population was merely 14,000 – corrections spending made up just 3 percent of the state budget. Today, about 20 percent of the general fund budget is now dedicated to corrections. Michigan’s current prison population is about 39,000.

House Bills 4133-46 have been referred to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.

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