The North Carolina Court System may start treating certain crimes committed by minors as youthful indiscretions if a recently drafted piece of legislation is to be passed.

House Bill 280 was filed two months ago in the North Carolina General Assembly to reclassify non-violent legal offenders under the age of 18 as juvenile delinquents.

The bill would allow for those delinquents to avoid being transferred to superior court for accruing criminal charges that do not include felonies or any degree of violence.

Speaking on behalf of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, Chief Justice Mark Martin held a press conference earlier in the week to tout the merits of the bill.

“Now, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but North Carolina now stands alone; we are the only state in the country that automatically prosecutes 16-year-olds charged with minor, non-violent offenses in adult court,” he announced.

Misdemeanor diversion programs with stipulations similar to House Bill 280 have also been launched in Orange and other counties to keep teenage criminal suspects from being tried as adults.

“We have up to 11 counties where the young people are already able to participate in administrative diversion programs, so in 11 counties, the young people are already automatically diverted to juvenile court and to restorative programs,” explained Martin.

Those programs were lauded by former North Carolina lieutenant governor Jim Gardner, who explained that small charges have a big impact on employment prospects.

“I know that young people — mine, yours, all across this state — will make bad choices, unfortunately, and I strongly support what the chief justice and everybody else in this room is doing,” he affirmed. “Simply because they make a simple mistake, [it] should not be with them for the rest of their lives.”

According to Judge William Webb, the majority of criminal records accrued by juvenile delinquents in 2014 could have been expunged under the stipulations of the bill.

“The chances of rehabilitation and the lack of recidivism are increased; we’re able to, once again, with these proposals, come back to sight-and-sound segregation — that means juveniles are separated from adult offenders,” he claimed. “This will result in tens of millions of dollars flowing back to North Carolina, which we currently don’t receive.”

Benefits notwithstanding, Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison reminded the audience that additional revenue would be needed to accommodate an expansion of juvenile courts.

“To those listening, we need money,” he admitted. “It’s going to take money or more juvenile counselors, especially here in Wake County — we’re bogged down.”

Statements from Rep. Tom Murray indicate that House Bill 280 is expected to be “moved in the next ten days” after leaving the judiciary and appropriations committees.

Photo by The Chicago Bureau.

 

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