House Gets Tough With Teenage Crime Lopsided Vote Approves Federal Funds Incentive For States That Try Violent Youths As Adults, Build More Juvenile Prisons

Seeking an overhaul of the nation’s juvenile justice system, the House Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation encouraging local prosecutors to get tough with violent teenage criminals by trying and punishing them as adults.

The measure, approved 286 to 132, would give federal dollars to states requiring adult trials for juveniles charged with murder, rape, armed robbery and aggravated assault. The juveniles could be as young as 13.

Youths convicted of those crimes could be sentenced to the same prison terms as adults, although they would have to be kept in their own unit, apart from older prisoners, said Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., the bill’s principal sponsor.

States would be offered $1.5 billion in federal incentive grants over three years if they built more prisons for juveniles, imposed escalating sanctions on juveniles committing additional crimes and made juvenile criminal records public.

“We face an epidemic of juvenile crime in this country,” McCollum said. “The essence of what we’re doing today is to try to fix a juvenile justice system so the very bad are removed from society because they commit the most heinous of crimes.”

Democrats argued that the Republican-initiated bill would turn the country away from its long-held belief that juveniles should be treated differently, if only because they can be steered away from a life of crime and rehabilitated by special treatment.

“Some children absolutely must be incarcerated,” said Rep. Max Sandlin, D-Texas, a former judge. “But if we think that merely by incarcerating children, we’re going to solve these problems, we’re wrong. If we think it will serve as a deterrent, we’re fooling ourselves.”

But special treatment of juvenile offenders hasn’t worked, said Rep. George Gekas, R-Pa. “The American people are shocked by the brutality and viciousness of crimes that are committed by 13- and 14- and 15-year olds. They’re equally shocked when they see a system that treats those juveniles as something less than the predators they seem to be.”

The Clinton administration wants changes in the House bill, saying that it puts too much emphasis on punishment and ignores prevention. McCollum responded that House Republicans are preparing a bill that would spend more money on prevention. With the public disturbed by violent juvenile crime, the White House has stopped short of a veto threat.

In addition, the administration seeks to include in any crime bill a provision requiring firearms dealers to provide child safety locks on weapons.

“To put a lock on a gun to prevent it from being used by children who might not be aware of the danger is a reasonable, simple precaution,” said Atty. Gen. Janet Reno. McCollum and Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., a gunrights leader, prepared gun safety amendments, but the GOP and Democratic amendments were blocked by House Republican leaders.

The GOP leaders acted after the National Rifle Association declared its opposition to gun locks and urged its members to voice their opposition to members of Congress.

McCollum said 12 states now have laws allowing prosecutors wide discretion in hauling criminal defendants 15 and younger into adult court, and that approach should be adopted in all states.

As an inducement to treat juveniles differently, states that open the door to adult trials and punishment for juvenile offenders 15 and younger would be given $1.25 million a year each plus an additional amount based on the number of juveniles in the state.

McCollum said that if the Senate joins in passing the law and President Clinton signs it, the nation may see a war against juvenile crime at the state and local level.

Though Republicans generally oppose federal interference in state and local decision-making, the bill is aimed squarely at legislators and prosecutors across the country. The measure would likely have minimal federal impact since most crime is prosecuted by local authorities.

Only about 300 juveniles are charged each year with federal adult crimes, including serious drug offenses, McCollum said.

The most recent FBI statistics showed a drop in the rate of violent crime by juveniles. However, minors were responsible for 14 percent of all violent crime in 1995, up from 10 percent in 1980. In 1995, juveniles committed 9 percent of murders, 13 percent of aggravated assaults, 20 percent of robberies, and 15 percent of forcible rapes.

The FBI has warned that the trend is toward a doubling of the juvenile crime rate as more teenagers roam the nation’s streets.

“Soon we will be dealing with more young people than ever before in this nation,” Reno said Thursday. “We must act now, before demographics become reality.”

By a 398-21 vote, the House added an amendment sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash., that would require states to notify parents of schoolchildren that a juvenile convicted of a sex offense had been admitted to the school.

Dunn said the amendment was modeled after the new adult notification requirement called Megan’s Law. “We believe that juvenile sex offenders present a unique danger to other children,” said Dunn.