Diversity Issues
Try 17-year-olds as juveniles, report suggests
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By LAURA BOHANNON
Capital News Service
LANSING — Raising the age of juvenile offenders by a year could reduce crime, cost little, and lead to better lives for thousands of young people, a recent report concludes. In Michigan, 17-year-olds can be tried as adults in court. Washington, D.C.-based Justice Policy Institute Executive Director Marc Schindler said placing juveniles in adult detention centers can create problems, like kids committing more serious crimes more often after being incarcerated with adults. Seven other states have recently raised the age for juveniles to be tried as adults to 18, and Schindler said those states have seen some benefits already. Kids incarcerated in juvenile centers are less likely to continue committing crimes when they’re released, unlike kids incarcerated with adults, Schindler said.