Time to reduce the number of children in Florida鈥檚 adult criminal justice system
In a commentary published in today鈥檚 Tampa Tribune, the head of the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Florida office argues in favor of pending legislation that would greatly reduce the number of the state鈥檚 children pushed into adult courts, a category in which Florida leads the nation.
This week, Florida lawmakers will consider legislation aimed at reducing the听number of children听tried in the adult criminal justice system 鈥� more than 10,000 over the last five years, mostly for nonviolent offenses.听
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More than 98 percent of them are sent there by prosecutors with no hearing, no due process and no oversight or input from a judge.
It鈥檚 because of Florida鈥檚 draconian 鈥渄irect file鈥� statute, which grants prosecutors unfettered discretion to remove children from the juvenile system, which is designed to give them the education and rehabilitation services they need.
This system results in gross inequities as this prosecutorial power is used differently across the state. Throughout Florida, children of color are far more likely to be tried as adults than white children.听听
Tania Galloni, managing attorney for the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Florida office, recently explained why reform is needed published by The Tampa Tribune.
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