Via Capital City Correction report.
A bill introduced to the Council yesterday would give juveniles charged as adults the right to motion for a transfer to family court.
The Youth Offender Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 2014, introduced by Councilmembers Jim Graham and Tommy Wells, calls for minors charged with crimes like murder and robbery while armed to “move for transfer of jurisdiction to the Family Court at any time prior to sentencing.”
The bill’s introduction comes shortly after DC Lawyers for Youth and the Campaign for Youth Justice released a report on the practice of incarcerating the city’s minors in adult jails. Between 2007 and 2012, 541 youths — predominately black, male and from east of the Anacostia River — have been held in an adult jail because of of direct file, where federal prosecutors charge the case in the adult system without judicial review. These minors, the report states, are at a higher risk of victimization.
In 2012, the majority of the days spent by youths in D.C.’s corrections facilities were before a trial, and the report called for an end to that practice. While the bill doesn’t go that far, it does state that a hearing on a potential transfer must take place within 30 days, “unless the prosecution, for good cause shown, or the defendant moves for a continuance of no more than 30 days.”
“The court shall transfer jurisdiction to the Family Court if it determines by a preponderance of the evidence that there are reasonable prospects for rehabilitating the defendant prior to his majority and it is in the interest of the public welfare to transfer the defendant to the Family Court,” the bill states.
“We are very pleased with the introduction of the report and thank Councilmembers Graham and Wells for their leadership in introducing the bill,” Aprill Turner, communications director for CFYJ, said in an email. “It is time to restore balance to the manner in which the District chooses to treat youth as adults and time to ensure that all court-involved youth are provided with the rehabilitative services necessary to help them become contributing members of the District. This bill would be a great step in that direction.”
