CAMPAIGN NEWS: PRESS COVERAGE
FROM: Times Picayune
Juvenile
justice bill wins House approval
http://www.nolalive.com/t-p/
By Laura Maggi
Compromise
plan raises hopes for revamping troubled system
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE -- With little fanfare or debate, the House on Monday unanimously
approved legislation to begin an overhaul of the state's juvenile justice system,
eventually closing a juvenile prison and developing a plan to move oversight
of young offenders to a new agency.
Sponsored by Rep. Mitch Landrieu, D-New Orleans, House Bill 2018, along with House Concurrent Resolution 56, has been touted as a "compromise plan" hashed out by Gov. Foster's office, the Department of Corrections, juvenile justice advocates, judges and lawmakers.
"I
think this is a pretty good step in the right direction," Landrieu said
after the vote.
The
proposal does not mean immediate change, but creates a framework to shift from
incarcerating young offenders, about 75 percent of whom are put into juvenile
prison after committing nonviolent crimes, to placing them in community-based
programs more focused on rehabilitation.
Sen.
Donald Cravins, D-Arnaudville, who has been pushing
the issue along with Landrieu, said he plans to put the bill before the Senate
this week, where he expects it to be quickly approved and on the governor's
desk by early next week.
Cravins previously had expressed concerns
about the length of time the legislation authorizes to remove juvenile offenders
from the much-criticized Tallulah prison in northeast
But
Cravins said after the House vote Monday that he has
changed his mind. "I want to lay this juvenile justice issue to rest. We've
worked too long and too hard," he said, adding that the next governor and
Legislature may be able to speed up the process.
Proponents
have said the financial savings from removing juveniles from the
The
bill also creates a committee to come up with a plan to move the office that
oversees juvenile delinquents out of the Department of Corrections and into
a new agency, which likely also would include components of other departments
that deal with troubled youths. That plan would need to be approved by the next
Legislature and governor to go into effect.
Agreements
hammered out
All
of the concerns about various aspects of the legislation -- from problems raised
by juvenile judges to concerns of lawmakers representing the Louisiana Delta
area that is home to the Tallulah prison -- were worked out behind the scenes
in the past two weeks.
Rep.
Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, had objected to closing down Tallulah as a juvenile
prison, because it would have meant the loss of many jobs in his impoverished
district. Thompson amended the bill, without objections, to provide that the
state will continue using the prison as a correctional facility, even if it
is closed to juvenile delinquents, as long as the state is paying the debt service
on the building.
Thompson
also included language to provide that 40 percent of the savings from the prison's
closure, up to $3 million, will be used to increase the number of nonsecure community programs in East Carroll, West Carroll,
Madison, Richland and Tensas parishes. The balance of the savings, which have
been estimated to be from $10 million to $20 million, would be used for community-based
programs in the rest of the state.
Although
the Department of Corrections plans to use the Tallulah facility -- probably
to deal with young people convicted in adult courts -- an adult prison has much
fewer guards and teachers than a juvenile facility, said Patrick Martin, Foster's
assistant executive counsel who helped work out the language. Thompson's amendment
would therefore keep some of the same kind of jobs in the area, he said.
Utter
said the amendment would be stronger if it included Ouachita Parish, which includes
'Placement
review' panel
Landrieu
also amended the legislation, including a compromise worked out by the governor's
office and juvenile judges to create a panel to periodically review whether
juveniles should be removed from a prison setting.
The
Department of Corrections has long argued that the agency needs a "parole
board" for juveniles, saying too many judges do not respond to requests
that a young offender be moved out of a secure facility. But juvenile judges
balked at giving up the final decision-making authority about where delinquents
should be.
As
a compromise, the bill creates a "juvenile placement review" panel
that will periodically consider whether juveniles are ready to leave secure
facilities. While the corrections department would be able to recommend a juvenile
be sent home or put in a residential program, a judge would still have veto
power or the ability to modify the plan for the youth. The agency also would
have to give a judge its assessment of the needs and progress of the juvenile
in question, as well as provide a comprehensive plan of after-care services
if the youth is released.