This proposition requires all determinations concerning the status of juveniles being tried as adults to be left to judges and not prosecutors. District Attorneys may petition, but judges alone will determine the juvenile/adult status especially for youth as young as age 14. It encourages education and rehabilitation as priorities for non-violent offenders, and it allows early release for non-violent offenders upon completion of the full time for the base charge with possible exemption from additional time on additional lesser charges. It keeps most dangerous offenders incarcerated. This proposition extends restorative justice work begun with SB 9, the abolition of Life Without Parole for juvenile offenders and the reduction in unjust abuses of the “Three Strikes” life sentencing as well as sentence changes from felonies to misdemeanors for non-violent, non-serious crimes we passed in Proposition 47. This is an essential step in moving from fear based incarceration to rational criminal justice, especially for our youth.
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