STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
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STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
(Senate - January 20, 1999)
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STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Thurmond, Mr.
Abraham, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Ashcroft):
S. 254. A bill to reduce violent juvenile crime, promote
accountability by rehabilitation of juvenile criminals, punish and
deter violent gang crime, and for other purposes; read the first time.
VIOLENT AND REPEAT JUVENILE OFFENDER ACCOUNTABILITY AND REHABILITATION
ACT OF 1999
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I am proud today to introduce the Violent
and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of
1999. I am pleased to be joined by Senator Sessions, the distinguished
chairman of the Youth Violence Subcommittee, as well as Senator DeWine.
There are few issues that will come before the Senate this year that
touch the lives of more of our fellow Americans than our national
response to juvenile crime. Crime and delinquency among juveniles is a
problem that troubles us in our neighborhoods, schools and parks. It is
the subject across the dinner table, and in those late night, worried
conversations all parents have had at one time or another. The subject
is familiar--how can we prevent our children from falling victim--
either to crime committed by another juvenile, or to the lure of drugs,
crime, and gangs.
Their concerns should be our concerns. The sad reality is that we can
no longer sit silently by as children kill children, as teenagers
commit truly heinous offenses, as our juvenile drug abuse rate
continues to climb. In 1997, juveniles accounted for nearly one fifth--
18.7 percent--of all criminal arrests in the United States. Persons
under 18 committed 13.5 percent of all murders, over 17 percent of all
rapes, nearly 30 percent of all robberies, and 50 percent of all
arsons.
In 1997, 183 juveniles under 15 were arrested for murder. Juveniles
under 15 were responsible for 6.5 percent of all rapes, 14 percent of
all burglaries, and one third of all arsons. And, unbelievably,
juveniles under 15--who are not old enough to legally drive in any
state--in 1997 were responsible for 10.3 percent of all auto thefts.
To put this in some context, consider this: in 1997, youngsters age
15 to 19, who are only 7 percent of the population, committed 22.2
percent of all crimes, 21.4 percent of violent crimes, and 32 percent
of property crimes.
And although there are endless statistics on our growing juvenile
crime problem, one particularly sobering fact is that, between 1985 and
1993, the number of murder cases involving 15-year olds increased 207
percent. We have kids involved in murder before they can even drive.
Even my state of Utah has not been immune from these trends. Indeed,
a 1997 study by Brigham Young University Professor Richard Johnson
found that Utah's juvenile arrest rate is the highest in the nation.
Additionally, as an indication of the increasingly serious nature of
juvenile offenses in Utah, between 1990 and 1996 the number of
juveniles sentenced to youth corrections increased 142 percent, and the
number of juveniles requiring detention in a secure facility more than
doubled. And in 1995, the average Utah juvenile offender had
accumulated an astonishing average of 23 misdemeanors, 8 felony
convictions, and 2.4 status offense convictions before being sentenced
to a secure youth facility.
In short, our juvenile crime problem has taken a new and sinister
direction. But cold statistics alone cannot tell the whole story. Crime
has real effects on the lives of real people. Last fall, I read an
article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch by my good friend, crime
novelist Patricia Cornwell. It is one of the finest pieces I have read
on the effects of and solutions to our juvenile crime problem.
Let me share with my colleagues some of what Ms. Cornwell, who has
spent the better part of her adult life studying and observing crime
and its effects, has to say. She says ``when a person is touched by
violence, the fabric of civility is forever rent, or ripped, or
breached . . .'' This is a graphic but accurate description. Countless
lives can be ruined by a single violent crime. There is, of course, the
victim, who may be dead, or scarred for life. There are the family and
friends of the victim, who are traumatized as well, and who must live
with the loss of a loved one. Society itself is harmed, when each of us
is a little more frightened to walk on our streets at night, to use an
ATM, or to jog or bike in our parks. And, yes, there is the offender
who has chosen to throw his or her life away. Particularly when the
offender is a juvenile, family, friends, and society are made poorer
for the waste of potential in every human being. One crime, but
permanent effects when ``the fabric of civility is rent.''
This is the reality that has driven me to work for the last three
years to address this issue. In this effort, I have been joined by a
bipartisan majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which last
Congress reported comprehensive legislation on a bipartisan,
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two to one vote. Indeed, among members of the Youth Violence
Subcommittee, the vote was seven to two in favor of the bill.
The Judiciary Committee's legislation last Congress would have
fundamentally reformed the role played by the federal government in
addressing juvenile crime in our Nation. It was supported by law
enforcement organizations such as the Fraternal Order of Police, the
National Sheriffs Association, and the National Troopers Coalition, as
well as the support of juvenile justice practitioners such as the
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and victim's
groups including the National Victims Center and the National
Organization for Victims Assistance.
The bill we introduce today builds on those efforts. Our reform
proposal includes the best of what we know works. It combines tough
measures to protect the public from the worst juvenile criminals, smart
measures to provide intervention and correction at the earliest acts of
delinquency, and compassionate measures to rehabilitate juvenile
offenders and to supplement and enhance extensive existing prevention
programs to keep juveniles out of the cycle of crime, violence, drugs,
and gangs.
Mr. President, let me spell out in great detail the provisions of
this bill, and how it will help reform the juvenile justice system that
is failing the victims of juvenile crime, failing too many of our young
people, and ultimately, failing to protect the public.
First, this bill reforms and streamlines the federal juvenile code,
to responsibly address the handful of cases each year involving
juveniles who commit crimes under federal jurisdiction. Our bill sets a
uniform age of 14 for the permissive transfer of juvenile defendants to
adult court, permits prosecutors and the Attorney General to make the
decision whether to charge a juvenile offender as an adult, and permits
in certain circumstances juveniles charged as an adult to petition the
court to be returned to juvenile status.
It also provides that when prosecuted as adults, juveniles in Federal
criminal cases will be subject to the same procedures and penalties as
adults, except for the application of mandatory minimums in most cases.
Of course, the death penalty would not be available as punishment for
any offense committed before the juvenile was 18.
The bill similarly provides that juveniles tried as adults and
sentenced to prison must serve their entire sentences, and may not be
released on the basis of attaining their majority, and applies to
juveniles convicted as adults the same provisions of victim
restitution, including mandatory restitution, that apply to adults.
Finally, in reforming the federal system, I believe that we must lead
by example. So our bill provides that the federal criminal records of
juveniles tried as adults, and the federal delinquency records of
juveniles adjudicated delinquent for certain serious offenses such as
murder, rape, armed robbery, and sexual abuse or assault, will be
treated for all purposes in the same manner as the records of adults
for the same offenses. Other federal felony juvenile criminal or
delinquency records would be treated the same as adult records for
criminal justice or national security background check purposes.
The bill also permits juvenile federal felony criminal and
delinquency records to be provided to schools and colleges under rules
issued by the Attorney General, provided that recipients of the records
are held to privacy standards and that the records not be used to
determine admission.
Let me assure any who may be concerned that it is not our intent in
reforming the federal juvenile code to federalize juvenile crime--
indeed, no conduct that is not a federal crime now will be if this
reform is enacted. I do not intend or expect a substantial increase in
the number of juvenile cases adjudicated or prosecuted in federal
court. It is our intent, rather, to ensure that when there is a federal
crime warranting the federal prosecution of a juvenile, the federal
government assumes its responsibility to deal with it, rather than
saddling the states with that burden.
Second, at the heart of this bill is an historic reform and
reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
of 1974, the most comprehensive review of that legislation in 25 years.
The States for several years have been far ahead of the Federal
Government in implementing innovative reforms of their juvenile justice
systems. For example, between 1992 and 1996, of the 50 States and the
District of Columbia, 48 made substantive changes to their juvenile
justice systems. Among the trends in State law changes are the removal
of more serious and violent offenders from the juvenile justice system,
in favor of criminal court prosecution; new and innovative disposition/
sentencing options for juveniles; and the revision, in favor of
openness, of traditional confidentiality provisions relating to
juvenile proceedings and records.
While the States have been making fundamental changes in their
approaches to juvenile justice, however, the Federal Government has
made no significant change to its approach and has done little to
encourage State and local reform. Thus, the juvenile justice terrain
has shifted beneath the Federal Government, leaving its programs and
policies out of step and largely irrelevant to the needs of State and
local governments. This bill corrects this imbalance between State and
Federal juvenile justice policy, and will help ensure that federal
programs support the needs of State and local governments.
First, our bill reforms and strengthens the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of the Department of
Justice. The effectiveness of the OJJDP will be enhanced by requiring
its Administrator to present to Congress annual plans, with measurable
goals, to control and prevent youth crime, coordinate all Federal
programs relating to controlling and preventing youth crime, and
disseminate to States and local governments data on the prevention,
correction and control of juvenile crime and delinquency, and report on
successful programs and methods.
And, most important to state and local governments, in the future,
OJJDP will serve as a single point of contact for States, localities,
and private entities to apply for and coordinate all federal assistance
and programs related to juvenile crime control and delinquency
prevention. This one-stop-shopping for federal programs and assistance
will help state and local governments focus on the problem, instead of
on how to navigate the federal bureaucracy.
Second, our reform bill consolidates numerous JJDPA programs,
including Part C Special Emphasis grants, State challenge grants, boot
camps, and JJDPA Title V incentive grants, under an enhanced $200
million per year prevention challenge block grant to the States. The
bill also reauthorizes the JJDPA Title II Part B State formula grants.
In doing so, it also reforms the current core mandates on the States
relating to the incarceration of juveniles to ensure the protection of
juveniles in custody while providing state and local governments with
needed flexibility.
This flexibility is particularly important to rural states, where
immediate access to a juvenile detention facility might be difficult.
Since many communities cannot afford separate juvenile and adult
facilities, law enforcement officers must drive hours to transport
juvenile offenders to the nearest facility, instead of patrolling the
streets. Another unintended consequence of JJDPA is the release of
juvenile offenders because no beds are available in juvenile facilities
or because law enforcement officials cannot afford to transport youths
to juvenile facilities. Juvenile criminals are released even though
space is available to detain them in adult facilities. Our reform will
provide the states with a degree of flexibility which currently does
not exist.
However, this flexibility is not provided at the expense of juvenile
inmate safety. The bill strictly prohibits placing juvenile offenders
in jail cells with adults. No one supports the placing of children in
cells with adult offenders. To be clear--nothing in the bill will
expose juveniles to any physical contact by adult offenders. Indeed,
the legislation is explicit that, if states are to qualify for federal
funds, they may not place juvenile delinquents in detention under
conditions in which the juvenile can have physical contact, much less
be physically harmed by, an adult inmate.
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These provisions are largely based on
H.R. 1818 from the 105th
Congress, but are improved to ensure that abuse of juvenile delinquent
inmates is not permitted by incorporating definitions of what
constitutes unacceptable contact between juvenile delinquents and adult
inmates.
Third, and finally, our reform of the JJDPA reauthorizes and
strengthens those other parts of the JJDPA that have proven effective.
For example, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and
the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act are reauthorized and funded. Gang
prevention programs are reauthorized. And important, successful
programs to provide mentoring for young people in trouble with the law
or at risk of getting into trouble with the law are reauthorized and
expanded. Operating through the Cooperative Extension Service program
sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, the University of Utah has
developed a ground-breaking and highly successful program that mentors
to entire families--pairing college age mentors with juveniles in
trouble or at risk of getting in trouble with the law, and pairing
senior citizen couples with the juvenile's parents and siblings. This
program gets great bang for the buck. So our bill provides
demonstration funds to expand this program and replicate its success in
other states.
Finally, our bill provides an important new program to encourage
state programs that provide accountability in their juvenile justice
systems. All or nearly all of our states have taken great strides in
reforming their systems, and it is time for the federal government's
programs to catch up and provide needed assistance.
Despite reforms in recent years, all too often, the juvenile justice
system ignores the minor crimes that lead to the increasingly frequent
serious and tragic juvenile crimes capturing headlines. Unfortunately,
many of these crimes might have been prevented had the warning signs of
early acts of delinquency or antisocial behavior been heeded. A
delinquent juvenile's critical first brush with the law is a vital
aspect of preventing future crimes, because it teaches an important
lesson--what behavior will be tolerated. Accountability is not just
about punishment--although punishment is frequently needed. It is about
teaching consequences and providing rehabilitation to youth offenders.
According to a recent Department of Justice study, juveniles
adjudicated for so-called index crimes--such as murder, rape, robbery,
assault, burglary, and auto theft--began their criminal careers at an
early age. The average age for a juvenile committing an index offense
is 14.5 years, and typically, by age 7, the future criminal is already
showing minor behavior problems. If we can intervene early enough,
however, we might avert future tragedies. Our bill provides a new
Juvenile Accountability Block Grant to reform federal policy that has
been complicit in the system's failure, and provide states with much
needed funding for a system of graduated sanctions, including community
service for minor crimes, electronically monitored home detention, boot
camps, and traditional detention for more serious offenses.
And let there be no mistake--detention is needed as well. Our first
priority should be to keep our communities safe. We simply have to
ensure that violent people are removed from our midst, no matter their
age. When a juvenile commits an act as heinous as the worst adult
crime, he or she is not a kid anymore, and we shouldn't treat them as
kids.
State receipt of the incentive grants would be conditioned on the
adoption of three core accountability policies: the establishment of
graduated sanctions to ensure appropriate correction of juvenile
offenders, drug testing juvenile offenders upon arrest in appropriate
cases; and recognition of victims rights and needs in the juvenile
justice system.
Meaningful reform also requires that a juvenile's criminal record
ought to be accessible to police, courts, and prosecution, so that we
can know who is a repeat or serious offender. Right now, these records
simply are not generally available in NCIC, the national system that
tracks adult criminal records. Thus, if a juvenile commits a string of
felony offenses, and no record is kept, the police, prosecutors, judges
or juries will never know what he did. Maybe for his next offense,
he'll get a light sentence or even probation, since it appears he's
committed only one felony in his life instead 10 or 15. Such a system
makes no sense, and it doesn't protect the public.
So the reform we offer in this bill also provides the first federal
incentives for the integration of serious juvenile criminal records
into the national criminal history database, together with federal
funding for the system.
Finally, we all recognize the value of education in preventing
juvenile crime and rehabilitating juvenile offenders. When trouble-
causing juveniles remain in regular classrooms, they frequently make it
difficult for all other students to learn. Yet, removing such juveniles
from the classroom without addressing their educational needs virtually
guarantees that they will fall further into the vortex of crime and
delinquency. The costs are high--to the juvenile, but also to victims
and to society. These juveniles too frequently become crime committing
adults, with all the costs that implies--costs to victims, and the cost
of incarcerating the offenders to protect the public. So our bill tries
to break this cycle, by providing a three-year $45 million
demonstration project to provide alternative education to juveniles in
trouble with or at risk of getting in trouble with the law.
The bill we introduce today authorizes significant funding for the
programs I have described. In all, our bill authorizes $1 billion per
year for 5 years, in the following categories: $450 million per year
for Juvenile Accountability Block Grants; $435 million per year for
prevention programs under the JJDPA, including $200 million for
Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Block Grants, $200 million for Part B
Formula grant prevention programs, and $35 million for Gangs, Mentoring
and Discretionary grant programs; $75 million per year for grants to
states to upgrade and enhance juvenile felony criminal record histories
and to make such records available within NCIC, the national criminal
history database used by law enforcement, the courts, and prosecutors;
and $40 million per year for NIJ research and evaluation of the
effectiveness of juvenile delinquency prevention programs.
Additionally, the bill authorizes $100 million per year for joint
Federal-State-local law enforcement task forces to address gang crime
in areas with high concentrations of gang activity. $75 million per
year of this funding is authorized for establishment and operation of
High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas, and the remaining $25
million per year is authorized for community-based prevention and
intervention for gang members and at-risk youth in gang areas.
And, finally, as I have already noted, the bill authorizes $45
million over 3 years for innovative alternative education programs to
make our schools safer places of learning while helping ensure that the
youth most at risk do not get left behind.
Lastly, Mr. President, let me address a provision in the bill which
will prohibit firearms possession by violent juvenile offenders. This
section extends the ban in current law on firearm ownership by certain
felons to certain juvenile offenders. Juveniles who are adjudicated
delinquent for an offense which would be a serious violent felony as
defined in 18 U.S.C. 3559(C)(2)(f)(i)--the federal three strikes
statute--were the offense committed by an adult will no longer be able
to legally own firearms. This is common sense. If tried and convicted
as adults, these criminals would automatically forfeit their right to
own a gun.
However, we should learn our lesson as well from the so-called
domestic violence gun ban enacted several years ago. If the offense
records that allow us to know who is covered by the ban are not
available, the law is hollow, or worse--it will be enforced only in
arbitrary cases. For this reason, the ban we propose is prospective
only, applying only to delinquent acts committed after records of such
offenses are routinely available within the National Instant Check
System instituted pursuant to the Brady Law.
We should also resist seeing this provision as any sort of panacea.
Laws banning criminals from owning firearms have not stopped them from
doing so, for a simple reason--criminals do not respect or obey the
law. So
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while this provision is an appropriate step, we should be under no
illusion that it is the answer to our juvenile crime problem.
Mr. President, I believe that we all agree that it is far better to
prevent the fabric of civility from being rent than to deal with the
aftermath of juvenile crime. In the face of a confounding problem like
juvenile crime, it is tempting to look for easy answers. I do not
believe that we should succumb to this temptation. We are faced, I
believe, with a problem which cannot be solved solely by the enactment
of new criminal prohibitions. It is at its core a moral problem.
Somehow, too frequently we have failed as a society to pass along to
the next generation the moral compass that differentiates right from
wrong. This cannot be legislated. It will not be restored by the
enactment of a new law or the implementation of a new program. But it
can be achieved by communities working together to teach accountability
by example and by early intervention when the signs clearly point to
violent and antisocial behavior.
Mr. President, that is what the bill we introduce is all about. It is
a comprehensive approach to this national problem. I believe that it
now is time for the Senate to act. I urge my colleagues to review this
legislation, to support it, and to support its early debate and passage
by the Senate.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a bill summary prepared
by the Judiciary Committee staff and an article by Patricia Cornwell be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
The Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and
Rehabilitation Act of 1999--Section-by-Section Analysis
Attached is a summary of the major provisions of S. , the
Hatch-Sessions Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender
Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 1999, as introduced
January 19, 1999.
Should you have any questions about the bill not answered
by this summary or the Committee Report, please call Mike
Kennedy or Rhett DeHart of the Senate Judiciary Committee
staff at (202) 224-5225.
general provisions
Sec. 1 Short Title, Table of Contents. This section
entitles the bill as the ``Violent and Repeat Juvenile
Offender Act of 1999'', and provides a table of contents for
the bill.
Sec. 2 Findings and Purpose. This section provides
Congressional findings related to juvenile crime, the
juvenile justice system, and the changes needed to reform the
juvenile justice system to curb youth violence, ensure
accountability by youthful criminals, improve federal
juvenile delinquency prevention efforts, and recognize the
needs of crime victims.
Sec. 3 Severability. This section provides severability
for the provisions of the Act.
title i--juvenile justice reform
This title reforms the procedures by which juveniles who
commit Federal crimes are prosecuted and punished.
Sec. 101 Repeal of General Provision. This section repeals
the provision establishing the general practice of
surrendering to State authorities juveniles arrested for the
commission of Federal offenses.
Sec. 102 Treatment of Federal Juvenile Offenders. General
Provisions: This section gives the U.S. Attorney the
discretion to prosecute juveniles age 14 years or older as
adults for violations of Federal law which are serious
violent felonies or serious drug offenses (as these terms are
defined in 18 U.S.C. 3559, the Federal 3-strike statute).
Juveniles 14 and older may be prosecuted as adults for any
other felony violation of Federal law only with the approval
of the Attorney General. If approval is not given, or, for
all misdemeanor violations of Federal law, juveniles would be
proceeded against as juveniles, or referred to State or
tribal authorities. Referral to state or tribal authorities
would be presumed in all cases of concurrent state and
federal jurisdiction, unless a state refused the case, or an
overriding federal interest existed. In the special case of
juveniles alleged to have committed a federal offense and who
have a prior occasion been tried and convicted as an adult in
federal court, waiver to adult status would be automatic.
Reverse Waiver Provision: Juveniles 15 and younger charged
as an adult for serious violent felonies or serious drug
offenses, and juveniles of any age charged as an adult for
other felonies, may appeal their waiver to adult status. The
juvenile would have 20 days to seek a judicial order
returning the juvenile to juvenile status. The prosecutor
would be permitted in interlocutory appeal from an adverse
ruling, but a juvenile's appeal would be consolidated at the
end of the case.
Application to Indian Tribes: This section also includes a
limited tribal opt-in for Native American juveniles 15 and
under when federal jurisdiction is based solely on the
commission of the offense on tribal land. A tribal opt-in to
federal procedures would be required to prosecute these
juveniles as adults, although they could still be adjudicated
in federal delinquency proceedings, even in the absence of a
tribal opt-in.
Procedures: When prosecuted as adults, juveniles in Federal
criminal cases would be subject to the same procedures and
penalties as adults, including availability of records, open
proceedings, and sentencing procedures. Exceptions are
provided waiving the application of mandatory minimums to
juveniles under age 16 who have no previous serious violent
felony or serious drug offense convictions, and barring the
availability of the death penalty in any offense committed
before the juvenile was 18.
This section also provides that juveniles tried as adults
and sentenced to prison must serve their entire sentences,
and may not be released on the basis of attaining their
majority, and applies to juveniles convicted as adults the
same provisions of victim restitution, including mandatory
restitution, that apply to adults.
Sec. 103 Definitions. This section provides definitions
for terms used, including new definitions to ensure that
juveniles accused or convicted of Federal offenses are
separated from adults and to conform the definition of the
term ``juvenile'' with the procedural changes made by this
title.
Sec. 104 Notification after Arrest. This section conforms
the requirement, in 18 U.S.C. 5033, that certain persons be
notified of the arrest of a juvenile for a Federal crime,
with the procedural changes in section 102 of this subtitle,
which vests discretion to prosecute juveniles as adults with
the U.S. Attorney for the district in the appropriate
jurisdiction. This section also provides for the notification
of the juveniles' parents or guardians, and prohibits the
post-arrest housing of juveniles with adults.
Sec. 105 Release and Detention Prior to Disposition. This
section provides for pretrial detention juveniles tried as
adults on the same basis as adults, and prohibits the
pretrial or pre-disposition detention of juveniles with
adults.
Sec. 106 Speedy Trial. This section extends, from 30 to 70
days, the time in which the trial of a juvenile in detention
must be commenced, and applies in juvenile cases the same
tolling provisions for such time period that apply in adult
prosecutions.
Sec. 107 Dispositional Hearings. This section provides for
the sentencing of that juveniles found to be delinquent, but
not tried as adults. It provides for a hearing on the matter
within 40 days of an adjudication of delinquency, and
provides for victim allocution at the hearing. The section
provides a range of sentencing options to the court,
including probation, fines, restitution, and/or imprisonment,
and provides that terms of imprisonment may be imposed upon
them for the same term as adults, except that such
imprisonment must be terminated on the juvenile's 26th
birthday. Juveniles sentenced to imprisonment may not be
released solely on the basis of attaining their majority.
Sec. 108 Use of Juvenile Records. This section provides
that the federal criminal records of juveniles tried as
adults, and the federal delinquency records of juveniles
adjudicated delinquent for certain serious offenses such as
murder, rape, armed robbery, and sexual abuse or assault, are
to be treated for all purposes in the same manner as the
records of adults for the same offenses. Other federal felony
juvenile criminal or delinquency records would be treated the
same as adult records for criminal justice or national
security background check purposes.
This section also permits juvenile federal felony juvenile
criminal and delinquency records to be provided to schools
and colleges under rules issued by the Attorney General,
provided that recipients of the records are held to privacy
standards and that the records not be used to determine
admission.
Sec. 109 Implementation of a Sentence for Juvenile
Offenders. This section provides for the implementation of a
sentence on a delinquent or criminal juvenile and directs the
Bureau of Prisons to not confine juveniles in any institution
where the juvenile would not be separated from adult inmates.
Sec. 110 Magistrate Judge Authority Regarding Juvenile
Defendants. This section extends the jurisdiction of Federal
magistrate judges to class A misdemeanors involving
juveniles; permits magistrate judges to impose terms of
imprisonment on juveniles, and conforms the section
conferring authority on magistrate judges with the procedural
changes made by section 102.
Sec. 111 Federal Sentencing Guidelines. This section
conforms the Sentencing Reform Act to ensure that the Federal
Sentencing Guidelines relating to maximum penalties for
violent crimes and serious drug crimes apply to juveniles
tried as adults.
This section also amends the Sentencing Reform Act to
direct the Sentencing Commission to promulgate sentencing
guidelines for sentencing juveniles tried as adults in
Federal court, and for dispositional hearings (the equivalent
of sentencing) for juveniles adjudicated delinquent in the
Federal system.
Sec. 112 Study and Report on Indian Tribal Jurisdiction.
This section requires the Attorney General to study and
report to the Congress on the capabilities of tribal courts
and criminal justice systems relating to the prosecution of
juvenile criminals under tribal jurisdiction, and requires
the Attorney General to evaluate an expansion of tribal court
criminal jurisdiction.
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title ii--juvenile gangs
Sec. 201 Solicitation or Recruitment of Persons in
Criminal Gang Activity. This section makes the recruitment or
solicitation of persons to participate in gang activity
subject to a one-year minimum and 10-year maximum penalty, or
a fine of up to $250,000. If a minor is recruited or
solicited, the minimum penalty is increased to four years. In
addition, a person convicted of this crime would have to pay
the costs of housing, maintaining, and treating the juvenile
until the juvenile reaches the age of 18 years.
Sec. 202 Increased Penalties for Using Minors to
Distribute Drugs. This section increases the penalties for
using minors to distribute controlled substances.
Sec. 203 Penalties for Use of Minors in Crimes of
Violence. This section increases twofold, and for a second or
subsequent offense threefold, the penalties for using minors
in the commission of a crime of violence.
Sec. 204 Amendment of Sentencing Guidelines With Respect
to Body Armor. This section directs the United States
Sentencing Commission to provide a minimum two level
sentencing enhancement for any defendant committing a Federal
crime while wearing body armor.
Sec. 205 High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas.
This section authorizes the Attorney General to establish
joint agency task forces to address gang crime in areas with
high concentrations of gang activity. This provision
authorizes $100 million per year for this program; $75
million per year is authorized for establishment and
operation of High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas,
and $25 million per year is authorized for community-based
gang prevention and intervention for gang members and at-risk
youth in gang areas.
Sec. 206 Increasing the Penalty for Using Physical Force
to Tamper With Witnesses, Victims, or Informants. This
section increases the penalty from a maximum of 10 years'
imprisonment to a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment for using
or threatening physical force against any person with intent
to tamper with a witness, victim, or informant. This section
also adds a conspiracy penalty for obstruction of justice
offenses involving victims, witnesses, and informants. In
addition, this section makes traveling in interstate or
foreign commerce to bribe, threaten or intimidate a witness
to delay or influence testimony in a State criminal
proceeding a violation of the Federal Travel Act, 18 U.S.C.
Section 1952.
title iii--juvenile crime control, accountability, and delinquency
prevention
This title reforms and enhances federal assistance to State
and local juvenile crime control and delinquency prevention
programs. Subtitle A amends and reauthorizes the Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA), to
provide assistance to States for effective youth crime
control and accountability.
Sec. 301 Findings; Declaration of Purpose; Definitions.
This section rewrites Title I of the JJDPA. It updates and
revises the Congressional findings and declaration of purpose
contained in the JJDPA to reflect the reality of violent
juvenile crime, promote the primacy of accountability in the
juvenile justice system, and recognize the rights and needs
of victims of juvenile crime. This section also revises and
updates the definitions governing the JJDPA.
Sec. 302 Juvenile Crime Control and Delinquency
Prevention. This section rewrites Title II of the JJDPA. It
reforms and renames the current Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention within the Department of Justice,
improves services to State and local governments, and reforms
and streamlines existing JJDPA grant programs. Among the
specific provisions of the rewritten JJDPA Title II:
Reforms JJDPA Title II Part A--the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of the Department
of Justice, is renamed the Office of Juvenile Crime Control
and Prevention (OJCCP), with an Administrator appointed by
the President and confirmed by the Senate. This section also
enhances the effectiveness of the OJCCP by requiring the
OJCCP Administrator to: present to Congress annual plans,
with measurable goals, to control and prevent youth crime;
coordinate all Federal programs relating to controlling and
preventing youth crime; disseminate to States and local
governments data on the prevention, correction and control of
juvenile crime and delinquency, and report on successful
programs and methods; and serve as a single point of contact
for States, localities, and private entities to apply for and
coordinate all federal assistance and programs related to
juvenile crime control and delinquency prevention.
Consolidates numerous JJDPA programs, including Part C
Special Emphasis grants, State challenge grants, boot camps,
and JJDPA Title V incentive grants, under an enhanced
prevention challenge block grant to the States.
Reauthorizes the State formula grants under Part B of Title
II of the JJDPA:
Reforms the 3 current ``core mandates'' on the States
relating to the incarceration of juveniles (known as sight
and sound separation, jail removal, and status offender
mandates,) to ensure the protection of juveniles in custody
while providing state and local governments with needed
flexibility; provisions are based on
H.R. 1818 from the 105th
Congress, but to ensure that abuse of juvenile delinquent
inmates is not permitted, includes modified definitions from
the 105th Congress
S. 10 regarding what constitutes contact
between juveniles and adults--no prohibited physical contact
or sustained oral communication would permitted between
juveniles delinquents in detention and adult inmates;
Modifies the current ``core mandate'' requiring states to
address efforts to reduce the disproportionate number of
minorities in juvenile detention in comparison with their
proportion to the population at large, to make the language
race-neutral and constitutional;
The four ``core mandates'' retained in modified form are
each enforceable by a 12.5 percent reduction in a State's
Part B funding for non-compliance. The Administrator may
waive the penalty.
Revises JJDPA Title II Part C, to enhance federal research
efforts into successful juvenile crime control and
delinquency prevention programs; reauthorizes JJDPA Title II
Part D Gang prevention programs, and reforms the program to
provide an emphasis on the disruption and prosecution of
gangs; includes a discretionary prevention grant program
designated as Part E of Title II of the JJDPA; retains the
current Part G Mentoring program under Title II of the JJDPA,
redesignating it as Part F, and adding a pilot program to
encourage and develop mentoring programs that focus on the
entire family instead of simply the juvenile and which
utilize the existing resources and infrastructure of the
Cooperative Extension Services of Land Grant Universities;
and designates JJDPA Title II Part G for administrative
provisions, including: providing rules against use of federal
funds for behavior control experimentation, lobbying, or
litigation; subjecting JJDPA and Juvenile Accountability
Block Grants (in Title III, Subtitle B of this bill) to a
religious and charitable non-discrimination provision cross-
referenced from the welfare reform law; providing significant
funding directly from the Department of Justice for juvenile
delinquency prevention and juvenile accountability programs
in Indian country; and providing authorizations of
appropriations for the JJDPA and the Juvenile Accountability
Block Grants, as follows:
Authorizes $1 billion per year for five years, under the
following formula: $450 million (45%) for Juvenile
Accountability Block Grants; $435 million (43.5%) for
prevention programs under the JJDPA, including $200 million
for Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Block Grants, $200
million for Part B Formula grant prevention programs, and $35
million for Gangs, Mentoring and Discretionary grant
programs; $75 million (7.5%) for grants to states to upgrade
and enhance juvenile felony criminal record histories and to
make such records available within NCIC, the national
criminal history database used by law enforcement, the
courts, and prosecutors; and $40 million (4%) for NIJ
research and evaluation of the effectiveness of juvenile
delinquency prevention programs.
Sec. 303 Runaway and Homeless Youth. This section reforms
the Runaway and Homeless Youth program, and reauthorizes it
through FY 2004. The reforms steamline the program, provide
for targeting federal assistance to areas with the greatest
need, and make numerous technical changes.
Sec. 304 National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children. This section improves and reauthorizes the Missing
and Exploited Children program through FY 2004, providing on-
going authorization for grants to the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children.
Sec 305. Transfer of Functions and Savings Provisions.
This section provides technical and administrative rules to
transfer functions, and to govern the transition from the
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to
the Office of Juvenile Crime Control and Prevention.
Subtitle B Accountability for Juvenile Offenders and Public Protection
Incentive Grants
Sec. 321 Block Grant Program. Accountability Block Grant:
This section establishes an incentive block grant program for
States, authorized at $450 million for each of the next five
fiscal years, as well as a separate $50 million per year
grant program for the upgrade and enhancement of juvenile
criminal records. The incentive block grants would fund a
variety of programs, such as constructing juvenile offender
detention facilities, implementing graduated sanctions
programs; fingerprinting or conducting DNA tests on juvenile
offenders; establishing record-keeping ability; establishing
SHOCAP programs; enforcing truancy laws; and various
prevention programs including after-school youth activities,
antigang initiatives, literacy programs, and job training
programs. Indian tribes receive separate grants under this
section.
State receipt of the incentive grants would be conditioned
on the adoption of three core accountability policies: the
establishment of graduated sanctions to ensure appropriate
correction of juvenile offenders, drug testing juvenile
offenders upon arrest in appropriate cases; and recognition
of victims rights and needs in the juvenile justice system.
Fifty percent of the funds under the grant program are
designated for implementing graduated sanctions or increasing
juvenile detention space if needed by the State. Federal the
remaining fifty percent can be used for any authorized grant
purpose. Detention space construction projects must be funded
by not less than fifty percent State or local (i.e.,
nonfederal grant) money.
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The block grant includes a pass-through requirement
intended to provide a formula for local funding that reflects
the needs and responsibilities of state and local levels of
government. Seventy percent of the funds received by the
State under this block grant must be passed through to the
local level, unless the state organizes its juvenile justice
system exclusively on the State level.
Juvenile Records Grants: Criminal and juvenile record
improvement grants for the States are authorized to encourage
states to treat the records of juveniles who commit and are
adjudicated delinquent for the felonies of murder, armed
robbery, and sexual assault be treated the same as adult
criminal records for the same offenses in the state, and to
treat records of juveniles who commit any other felony be
treated, for criminal justice purposes only, the same as
adult criminal records for the same offenses. Such records
would be available interstate within the NCIC system.
Sec. 322 Pilot Program to Promote Replication of Recent
Successful Juvenile Crime Reduction Strategies. This section
authorizes the Attorney General to fund pilot programs to
replicate the successful juvenile crime reduction program
utilized by Boston, Massachusetts. Pilot program grant
recipients would adopt a juvenile crime reduction strategy
involving close collaboration among Federal, State, and local
law enforcement authorities, and including religious
affiliated or fraternal organizations, school officials,
social service agencies, and parent or local grass roots
organizations. Emphasis would be placed on initiating
effective crime prevention programs and tracing firearms
seized from crime scenes or offenders in an effort to
identify illegal gun traffickers who are supplying weapons to
gangs and other criminal enterprises
Sec. 323 Repeal of Unnecessary and Duplicative Programs.
This section repeals duplicative and wasteful programs
enacted as a part of the 1994 crime law, including the Ounce
of Prevention Council, the Model Intensive Grant program, the
Local Partnership Act, the National Community Economic
Partnership, the Urban Recreation and At-Risk Youth Program,
and the Family Unity Demonstration Project.
Sec. 324 Extension of Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund.
This section extends the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund,
established in the 1994 omnibus crime law, to fund programs
authorized by this act.
Sec. 325 Reimbursement of States for the Costs of
Incarcerating Juvenile Aliens. This section adds juvenile
aliens to the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which
provides reimbursement to the States for the costs of
incarcerating criminal aliens.
Sec. 326 Sense of Congress. This section provides the
sense of Congress that States should enact legislation to
provide that if an offense that would be a capital offense if
committed by an adult is committed by a juvenile between the
ages of 10 and 14, the juvenile could, with judicial
approval, be tried and punished as an adult, provided the
death penalty would not be available in such cases.
Subtitle C--Alternative Education and Delinquency Prevention
Sec. 331 Alternative Education. This section amends the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to provide
demonstration grants to state and local education agencies
for alternative education in appropriate settings for
disruptive or delinquent students, to improve the academic
and social performance of these students and to improve the
safety and learning environment of regular classrooms.
Certain matching amounts required under this program could
be made from amounts available to the State or local
governments under the JJDPA. Appropriations under the ESEA
of $15 million per year for four years are authorized.
Title IV--Miscellaneous Provisions
Subtitle A--General Provisions
Sec. 401 Prohibition on Firearms Possession by Violent
Juvenile Offenders. This section extends the ban on firearm
ownership by certain felons to persons who, as juveniles, are
adjudicated delinquent for an offense which would be a
serious violent felony as defined in 18 U.S.C.
3559(c)(2)(F)(i) (the federal three strikes statute), were
the offense committed by an adult. The ban is prospective,
applying only to delinquent acts committed after records of
such offenses are routinely available within the National
Instant Check System instituted pursuant to the Brady Law.
Subtitle B--Jail-Based Substance Abuse
Sec. 421 Jail-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Program.
This section provides that 10 percent of grants to States for
drug treatment in prisons (RSAT grants) should be directed to
qualified treatment programs in jails; under current law,
these funds are limited to prison treatment. This section
also allows RSAT grants to be used to provide post-
incarceration substance abuse treatment for former inmates if
the Governor certifies to the U.S. Attorney General that the
State is providing, and will continue to provide, an adequate
level of treatment services to incarcerated inmates.
____
When the Fabric Is Rent
(By Patricia Cornwell)
There was a saying in the morgue during those long six
years I worked there. When a person is touched by violence,
the fabric of civility is forever rent, or ripped or
breached, whatever word is most graphic to you.
Our country is the most violent one in the free world, and
as far as I'm concerned, we are becoming increasingly
incompetent in preventing and prosecuting cruel crimes that
we foolishly think happen only to others. There was another
saying in the morgue. The one thing every dead person had in
common in that place was he never thought he'd end up there.
He never imagined his name would be penned in black ink in
the big black book that is ominously omnipresent on a counter
top in the autopsy suite.
I have seen hundreds, maybe close to a thousand dead bodies
by now, many of them ruined by another person's hands. I
return to the morgue at least two or three times a year to
painfully remind myself that what I'm writing about is awful
and final and real.
I suffer from nightmares and don't remember the last time I
had a pleasant dream. I have very strong emotional responses
to crimes that have nothing to do with me, such as Versace's
murder, and more recently, the random shooting deaths of
Capitol Police Agent John Gibson and Officer Jacob Chestnut.
I can't read sad, scary or violent books. I watched only half
of ``Titanic'' because I could not bear its sadness. I
stormed out of Ann Rice's ``Interview With A Vampire,'' so
furious my hands were shaking because the movie is such an
outrageous trivialization and celebration of sexual violence.
For me the suffering, the blood, the deaths are real.
I'd like to confront Ann Rice with bitemarks and other
sadistic wounds that are not special effects. I'd like to
sentence Oliver Stone to a month in the morgue, make him sit
in the cooler for a while and see what an audience of victims
has to say about his films. I'd like O.J. Simpson to have
total recall and suffer, go broke, be ostracized, never be
allowed on a golf course again. I was in a pub in London when
that verdict was read. I'll never forget the amazed faces of
a suddenly mute group of beer-drinking Brits, or the shame my
friends and I felt because in America it is absolutely true.
Justice is blind.
Justice has stumbled off the road of truth and fallen
headlong into a thicket of subjective verdicts where evidence
doesn't count and plea bargains that are such a bargain they
are fire sales. I've begun to fear that the consequences and
punishment of violent crime have become some sort of mindless
multiple choice, a ``Let's Make A Deal,'' a ``Let's microwave
the popcorn and watch Court TV.''
I have been asked to tell you what my fictional character
Dr. Scarpetta would do if she were the crime czar or
Virginia, of America. Since she and I share the same opinions
and views, I am stepping out from behind my curtain of
imagined deeds and characters and telling you what I feel and
think.
It startles me to realize that at age 42, I have spent
almost half my life studying crime, of living and working in
it's pitifully cold, smelly, ugly environment. I am often
asked why people cheat, rob, stalk, slander, maim and murder.
How can anybody enjoy causing another human being or any
living creature destruction and pain? I will tell you in
three words: Abuse of power. Everything in life is about the
power we appropriate for good or destruction, and the
ultimate overpowering of a life is to make it suffer and end.
This includes children who put on camouflage and get into
the family guns. We don't want to believe that 12, 13, 16
year old youths are unredeemable. Most of them aren't. But
it's time we face that some of them have transgressed beyond
forgiveness, certainly beyond trust. Not all victims I have
seen pass through the morgue were savaged by adults. The
creative cruelty of some young killers is the worst of the
worst, images of what they did to their victims ones I wish I
could delete.
About a year ago, I began researching juvenile crime for
the follow-up of ``Hornet's Next'' (Southern Cross, January,
'99) and my tenth Scarpetta book (unfinished and untitled
yet). This was a territory I had yet to explore. I was
inspired by the depressing fact that in the last ten years,
shootings, hold-ups at ATM's, and premeditated murders
committed by juveniles have risen 160 percent. As I ventured
into my eleventh and twelfth novels, I wondered what my
crusading characters would do with violent children.
So I spent months in Raleigh watching members of the
Governor's Commission on Juvenile Crime and Justice debate
and rewrite their juvenile crime laws, as Virginia did in
1995 under the leadership of Jim Gilmore. I quizzed Senator
Orrin Hatch about his youth violence bill,
S. 10, a federal
approach to reforming a juvenile justice system that is
failing our society. I toured detention homes in Richmond and
elsewhere. I sat in on juvenile court cases and talked to
inmates who were juveniles when they began their lives of
crime.
While it is true that many violent juveniles have abuse,
neglect, and the absence of values in their homes, I maintain
my belief that all people should be held accountable for
their actions. Our first priority should be to keep our
communities safe. We must remove violent people from our
midst, no matter their age. As Marcia Morey, executive
director of North Carolina's juvenile crime commission,
constantly preaches, ``We must stop the hemorrhage
first.''
When the trigger is pulled, when the knife is plunged, kids
aren't kids anymore. We should not shield and give excuses
and probation to violent juveniles who, odds are, will harm
or kill again if they are returned to our neighborhoods and
schools. We should
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not treat young violent offenders with sealed lips and
exclusive proceedings.
``The secrecy and confidentiality of our system have hurt
us,'' says Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District
Court Judge Kimberly O'Donnell. ``What people can't see and
hear is often difficult for them to understand.''
Virginia has opened its courtrooms to the public, and Judge
O'Donnell encourages people to sit in hers and see for
themselves those juveniles who are remorseless and those who
can be saved. Most juveniles who end up in court are not
repeat offenders. But for that small number who threaten us
most, I advocate hard, non-negotiable judgment. Most of what
I would like to see is already being done in Virginia. But we
need juvenile justice reform nationally, a system that is
sensible and consistent from state to state.
As it is now, if a juvenile commits a felony in Virginia,
when he turns 18 his record is not expunged and will follow
him for the rest of his days. But were he to commit the same
felony in North Carolina, at 16 he'll be released from a
correctional facility with no record of any crime he
committed in that state. Let's say he's back on the street
and returns to Virginia. Now he's a juvenile again, and
police, prosecutors, judges or juries will never know what he
did in North Carolina.
If he moves to yet another state where the legal age is 21,
he can commit felonies for three or four more years and have
no record of them, either. Maybe by then he's committed
fifteen felonies but is only credited with the one he
committed in Virginia. Maybe when he becomes an adult and is
violent again, he gets a light sentence or even probation,
since it appears he's committed only one felony in his life
instead of fifteen. He'll be back among us soon enough. Maybe
his next victim will be you.
If national juvenile justice reform were up to me, I'd be
strict. I would not be popular with extreme child advocates.
If I had my way, it would be routine that when any juvenile
commits a violent crime, his name and personal life are
publicized. Records of juveniles who commit felonies should
not be expunged when the individual becomes an adult. Mug
shots, fingerprints and the DNA of violent juveniles should,
at the very least, be available to police, prosecutors, and
schools, and if they young violent offender has an extensive
record and commits another crime, plea bargaining should be
limited or at least informed.
Juveniles who rape, murder or commit other heinous acts
should be tried as adults, but judges should have the
discretionary power to decide when this is merited. I want to
see more court-ordered restitution and mediation. Let's turn
off the TV's in correctional centers and force assailants,
robbers, thieves to work to pay back what they've destroyed
and taken, as much as that is possible. Confront them with
their victims, face to face. Perhaps a juvenile might realize
the awful deed he's done if his victim is suddenly a person
with feelings, loved ones, scars, a name.
Prevention is a more popular word than punishment. But the
solution to what's happening in our society, particularly to
our youths, is simpler and infinitely harder than any
federally or privately funded program. All of us live
in neighborhoods. Unless you are in solitary confinement
or a coma, you are aware of others around you. Quite
likely you are exposed to children who are sad, lost,
ignored, neglected or abused. Try to help. Do it in
person.
I remember my first few years in Richmond when I was living
at Union Theological Seminary, where my former husband was a
student and I was a struggling, somewhat failed writer.
Charlie and I spent five years in a seminary apartment
complex where there was a little boy who enjoyed throwing a
tennis ball against the building in a staccato that was
torture to me.
I was working on novels nobody wanted and every time that
ball thunked against brick, I lost my train of thought. I'd
popped out of my chair and fly outside to order the kid to
stop, but somehow he was always gone without a trace, silence
restored for an hour or two. One day I caught him. I was
about to reprimand him when I saw the fear and loneliness in
his eyes.
``What's your name?'' I asked.
``Eddie,'' he said.
``How old are you?''
``Ten.''
``It's not a good idea to throw a ball against the
building. It makes it hard for some of us to work.''
``I know.'' He shrugged.
``If you know, then why do you do it?''
``Because I have no one to play catch with me,'' he
replied.
My memory lit up with acts of kindness when I was a lonely
child living in the small town of Montreat, North Carolina.
Adult neighbors had taken time to play tennis with me. They
had invited me, the only girl in town, to play baseball or
touch football with the bo
Major Actions:
All articles in Senate section
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
(Senate - January 20, 1999)
Text of this article available as:
TXT
PDF
[Pages
S750-S799]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Thurmond, Mr.
Abraham, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Ashcroft):
S. 254. A bill to reduce violent juvenile crime, promote
accountability by rehabilitation of juvenile criminals, punish and
deter violent gang crime, and for other purposes; read the first time.
VIOLENT AND REPEAT JUVENILE OFFENDER ACCOUNTABILITY AND REHABILITATION
ACT OF 1999
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I am proud today to introduce the Violent
and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of
1999. I am pleased to be joined by Senator Sessions, the distinguished
chairman of the Youth Violence Subcommittee, as well as Senator DeWine.
There are few issues that will come before the Senate this year that
touch the lives of more of our fellow Americans than our national
response to juvenile crime. Crime and delinquency among juveniles is a
problem that troubles us in our neighborhoods, schools and parks. It is
the subject across the dinner table, and in those late night, worried
conversations all parents have had at one time or another. The subject
is familiar--how can we prevent our children from falling victim--
either to crime committed by another juvenile, or to the lure of drugs,
crime, and gangs.
Their concerns should be our concerns. The sad reality is that we can
no longer sit silently by as children kill children, as teenagers
commit truly heinous offenses, as our juvenile drug abuse rate
continues to climb. In 1997, juveniles accounted for nearly one fifth--
18.7 percent--of all criminal arrests in the United States. Persons
under 18 committed 13.5 percent of all murders, over 17 percent of all
rapes, nearly 30 percent of all robberies, and 50 percent of all
arsons.
In 1997, 183 juveniles under 15 were arrested for murder. Juveniles
under 15 were responsible for 6.5 percent of all rapes, 14 percent of
all burglaries, and one third of all arsons. And, unbelievably,
juveniles under 15--who are not old enough to legally drive in any
state--in 1997 were responsible for 10.3 percent of all auto thefts.
To put this in some context, consider this: in 1997, youngsters age
15 to 19, who are only 7 percent of the population, committed 22.2
percent of all crimes, 21.4 percent of violent crimes, and 32 percent
of property crimes.
And although there are endless statistics on our growing juvenile
crime problem, one particularly sobering fact is that, between 1985 and
1993, the number of murder cases involving 15-year olds increased 207
percent. We have kids involved in murder before they can even drive.
Even my state of Utah has not been immune from these trends. Indeed,
a 1997 study by Brigham Young University Professor Richard Johnson
found that Utah's juvenile arrest rate is the highest in the nation.
Additionally, as an indication of the increasingly serious nature of
juvenile offenses in Utah, between 1990 and 1996 the number of
juveniles sentenced to youth corrections increased 142 percent, and the
number of juveniles requiring detention in a secure facility more than
doubled. And in 1995, the average Utah juvenile offender had
accumulated an astonishing average of 23 misdemeanors, 8 felony
convictions, and 2.4 status offense convictions before being sentenced
to a secure youth facility.
In short, our juvenile crime problem has taken a new and sinister
direction. But cold statistics alone cannot tell the whole story. Crime
has real effects on the lives of real people. Last fall, I read an
article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch by my good friend, crime
novelist Patricia Cornwell. It is one of the finest pieces I have read
on the effects of and solutions to our juvenile crime problem.
Let me share with my colleagues some of what Ms. Cornwell, who has
spent the better part of her adult life studying and observing crime
and its effects, has to say. She says ``when a person is touched by
violence, the fabric of civility is forever rent, or ripped, or
breached . . .'' This is a graphic but accurate description. Countless
lives can be ruined by a single violent crime. There is, of course, the
victim, who may be dead, or scarred for life. There are the family and
friends of the victim, who are traumatized as well, and who must live
with the loss of a loved one. Society itself is harmed, when each of us
is a little more frightened to walk on our streets at night, to use an
ATM, or to jog or bike in our parks. And, yes, there is the offender
who has chosen to throw his or her life away. Particularly when the
offender is a juvenile, family, friends, and society are made poorer
for the waste of potential in every human being. One crime, but
permanent effects when ``the fabric of civility is rent.''
This is the reality that has driven me to work for the last three
years to address this issue. In this effort, I have been joined by a
bipartisan majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which last
Congress reported comprehensive legislation on a bipartisan,
[[Page
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two to one vote. Indeed, among members of the Youth Violence
Subcommittee, the vote was seven to two in favor of the bill.
The Judiciary Committee's legislation last Congress would have
fundamentally reformed the role played by the federal government in
addressing juvenile crime in our Nation. It was supported by law
enforcement organizations such as the Fraternal Order of Police, the
National Sheriffs Association, and the National Troopers Coalition, as
well as the support of juvenile justice practitioners such as the
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and victim's
groups including the National Victims Center and the National
Organization for Victims Assistance.
The bill we introduce today builds on those efforts. Our reform
proposal includes the best of what we know works. It combines tough
measures to protect the public from the worst juvenile criminals, smart
measures to provide intervention and correction at the earliest acts of
delinquency, and compassionate measures to rehabilitate juvenile
offenders and to supplement and enhance extensive existing prevention
programs to keep juveniles out of the cycle of crime, violence, drugs,
and gangs.
Mr. President, let me spell out in great detail the provisions of
this bill, and how it will help reform the juvenile justice system that
is failing the victims of juvenile crime, failing too many of our young
people, and ultimately, failing to protect the public.
First, this bill reforms and streamlines the federal juvenile code,
to responsibly address the handful of cases each year involving
juveniles who commit crimes under federal jurisdiction. Our bill sets a
uniform age of 14 for the permissive transfer of juvenile defendants to
adult court, permits prosecutors and the Attorney General to make the
decision whether to charge a juvenile offender as an adult, and permits
in certain circumstances juveniles charged as an adult to petition the
court to be returned to juvenile status.
It also provides that when prosecuted as adults, juveniles in Federal
criminal cases will be subject to the same procedures and penalties as
adults, except for the application of mandatory minimums in most cases.
Of course, the death penalty would not be available as punishment for
any offense committed before the juvenile was 18.
The bill similarly provides that juveniles tried as adults and
sentenced to prison must serve their entire sentences, and may not be
released on the basis of attaining their majority, and applies to
juveniles convicted as adults the same provisions of victim
restitution, including mandatory restitution, that apply to adults.
Finally, in reforming the federal system, I believe that we must lead
by example. So our bill provides that the federal criminal records of
juveniles tried as adults, and the federal delinquency records of
juveniles adjudicated delinquent for certain serious offenses such as
murder, rape, armed robbery, and sexual abuse or assault, will be
treated for all purposes in the same manner as the records of adults
for the same offenses. Other federal felony juvenile criminal or
delinquency records would be treated the same as adult records for
criminal justice or national security background check purposes.
The bill also permits juvenile federal felony criminal and
delinquency records to be provided to schools and colleges under rules
issued by the Attorney General, provided that recipients of the records
are held to privacy standards and that the records not be used to
determine admission.
Let me assure any who may be concerned that it is not our intent in
reforming the federal juvenile code to federalize juvenile crime--
indeed, no conduct that is not a federal crime now will be if this
reform is enacted. I do not intend or expect a substantial increase in
the number of juvenile cases adjudicated or prosecuted in federal
court. It is our intent, rather, to ensure that when there is a federal
crime warranting the federal prosecution of a juvenile, the federal
government assumes its responsibility to deal with it, rather than
saddling the states with that burden.
Second, at the heart of this bill is an historic reform and
reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
of 1974, the most comprehensive review of that legislation in 25 years.
The States for several years have been far ahead of the Federal
Government in implementing innovative reforms of their juvenile justice
systems. For example, between 1992 and 1996, of the 50 States and the
District of Columbia, 48 made substantive changes to their juvenile
justice systems. Among the trends in State law changes are the removal
of more serious and violent offenders from the juvenile justice system,
in favor of criminal court prosecution; new and innovative disposition/
sentencing options for juveniles; and the revision, in favor of
openness, of traditional confidentiality provisions relating to
juvenile proceedings and records.
While the States have been making fundamental changes in their
approaches to juvenile justice, however, the Federal Government has
made no significant change to its approach and has done little to
encourage State and local reform. Thus, the juvenile justice terrain
has shifted beneath the Federal Government, leaving its programs and
policies out of step and largely irrelevant to the needs of State and
local governments. This bill corrects this imbalance between State and
Federal juvenile justice policy, and will help ensure that federal
programs support the needs of State and local governments.
First, our bill reforms and strengthens the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of the Department of
Justice. The effectiveness of the OJJDP will be enhanced by requiring
its Administrator to present to Congress annual plans, with measurable
goals, to control and prevent youth crime, coordinate all Federal
programs relating to controlling and preventing youth crime, and
disseminate to States and local governments data on the prevention,
correction and control of juvenile crime and delinquency, and report on
successful programs and methods.
And, most important to state and local governments, in the future,
OJJDP will serve as a single point of contact for States, localities,
and private entities to apply for and coordinate all federal assistance
and programs related to juvenile crime control and delinquency
prevention. This one-stop-shopping for federal programs and assistance
will help state and local governments focus on the problem, instead of
on how to navigate the federal bureaucracy.
Second, our reform bill consolidates numerous JJDPA programs,
including Part C Special Emphasis grants, State challenge grants, boot
camps, and JJDPA Title V incentive grants, under an enhanced $200
million per year prevention challenge block grant to the States. The
bill also reauthorizes the JJDPA Title II Part B State formula grants.
In doing so, it also reforms the current core mandates on the States
relating to the incarceration of juveniles to ensure the protection of
juveniles in custody while providing state and local governments with
needed flexibility.
This flexibility is particularly important to rural states, where
immediate access to a juvenile detention facility might be difficult.
Since many communities cannot afford separate juvenile and adult
facilities, law enforcement officers must drive hours to transport
juvenile offenders to the nearest facility, instead of patrolling the
streets. Another unintended consequence of JJDPA is the release of
juvenile offenders because no beds are available in juvenile facilities
or because law enforcement officials cannot afford to transport youths
to juvenile facilities. Juvenile criminals are released even though
space is available to detain them in adult facilities. Our reform will
provide the states with a degree of flexibility which currently does
not exist.
However, this flexibility is not provided at the expense of juvenile
inmate safety. The bill strictly prohibits placing juvenile offenders
in jail cells with adults. No one supports the placing of children in
cells with adult offenders. To be clear--nothing in the bill will
expose juveniles to any physical contact by adult offenders. Indeed,
the legislation is explicit that, if states are to qualify for federal
funds, they may not place juvenile delinquents in detention under
conditions in which the juvenile can have physical contact, much less
be physically harmed by, an adult inmate.
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These provisions are largely based on
H.R. 1818 from the 105th
Congress, but are improved to ensure that abuse of juvenile delinquent
inmates is not permitted by incorporating definitions of what
constitutes unacceptable contact between juvenile delinquents and adult
inmates.
Third, and finally, our reform of the JJDPA reauthorizes and
strengthens those other parts of the JJDPA that have proven effective.
For example, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and
the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act are reauthorized and funded. Gang
prevention programs are reauthorized. And important, successful
programs to provide mentoring for young people in trouble with the law
or at risk of getting into trouble with the law are reauthorized and
expanded. Operating through the Cooperative Extension Service program
sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, the University of Utah has
developed a ground-breaking and highly successful program that mentors
to entire families--pairing college age mentors with juveniles in
trouble or at risk of getting in trouble with the law, and pairing
senior citizen couples with the juvenile's parents and siblings. This
program gets great bang for the buck. So our bill provides
demonstration funds to expand this program and replicate its success in
other states.
Finally, our bill provides an important new program to encourage
state programs that provide accountability in their juvenile justice
systems. All or nearly all of our states have taken great strides in
reforming their systems, and it is time for the federal government's
programs to catch up and provide needed assistance.
Despite reforms in recent years, all too often, the juvenile justice
system ignores the minor crimes that lead to the increasingly frequent
serious and tragic juvenile crimes capturing headlines. Unfortunately,
many of these crimes might have been prevented had the warning signs of
early acts of delinquency or antisocial behavior been heeded. A
delinquent juvenile's critical first brush with the law is a vital
aspect of preventing future crimes, because it teaches an important
lesson--what behavior will be tolerated. Accountability is not just
about punishment--although punishment is frequently needed. It is about
teaching consequences and providing rehabilitation to youth offenders.
According to a recent Department of Justice study, juveniles
adjudicated for so-called index crimes--such as murder, rape, robbery,
assault, burglary, and auto theft--began their criminal careers at an
early age. The average age for a juvenile committing an index offense
is 14.5 years, and typically, by age 7, the future criminal is already
showing minor behavior problems. If we can intervene early enough,
however, we might avert future tragedies. Our bill provides a new
Juvenile Accountability Block Grant to reform federal policy that has
been complicit in the system's failure, and provide states with much
needed funding for a system of graduated sanctions, including community
service for minor crimes, electronically monitored home detention, boot
camps, and traditional detention for more serious offenses.
And let there be no mistake--detention is needed as well. Our first
priority should be to keep our communities safe. We simply have to
ensure that violent people are removed from our midst, no matter their
age. When a juvenile commits an act as heinous as the worst adult
crime, he or she is not a kid anymore, and we shouldn't treat them as
kids.
State receipt of the incentive grants would be conditioned on the
adoption of three core accountability policies: the establishment of
graduated sanctions to ensure appropriate correction of juvenile
offenders, drug testing juvenile offenders upon arrest in appropriate
cases; and recognition of victims rights and needs in the juvenile
justice system.
Meaningful reform also requires that a juvenile's criminal record
ought to be accessible to police, courts, and prosecution, so that we
can know who is a repeat or serious offender. Right now, these records
simply are not generally available in NCIC, the national system that
tracks adult criminal records. Thus, if a juvenile commits a string of
felony offenses, and no record is kept, the police, prosecutors, judges
or juries will never know what he did. Maybe for his next offense,
he'll get a light sentence or even probation, since it appears he's
committed only one felony in his life instead 10 or 15. Such a system
makes no sense, and it doesn't protect the public.
So the reform we offer in this bill also provides the first federal
incentives for the integration of serious juvenile criminal records
into the national criminal history database, together with federal
funding for the system.
Finally, we all recognize the value of education in preventing
juvenile crime and rehabilitating juvenile offenders. When trouble-
causing juveniles remain in regular classrooms, they frequently make it
difficult for all other students to learn. Yet, removing such juveniles
from the classroom without addressing their educational needs virtually
guarantees that they will fall further into the vortex of crime and
delinquency. The costs are high--to the juvenile, but also to victims
and to society. These juveniles too frequently become crime committing
adults, with all the costs that implies--costs to victims, and the cost
of incarcerating the offenders to protect the public. So our bill tries
to break this cycle, by providing a three-year $45 million
demonstration project to provide alternative education to juveniles in
trouble with or at risk of getting in trouble with the law.
The bill we introduce today authorizes significant funding for the
programs I have described. In all, our bill authorizes $1 billion per
year for 5 years, in the following categories: $450 million per year
for Juvenile Accountability Block Grants; $435 million per year for
prevention programs under the JJDPA, including $200 million for
Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Block Grants, $200 million for Part B
Formula grant prevention programs, and $35 million for Gangs, Mentoring
and Discretionary grant programs; $75 million per year for grants to
states to upgrade and enhance juvenile felony criminal record histories
and to make such records available within NCIC, the national criminal
history database used by law enforcement, the courts, and prosecutors;
and $40 million per year for NIJ research and evaluation of the
effectiveness of juvenile delinquency prevention programs.
Additionally, the bill authorizes $100 million per year for joint
Federal-State-local law enforcement task forces to address gang crime
in areas with high concentrations of gang activity. $75 million per
year of this funding is authorized for establishment and operation of
High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas, and the remaining $25
million per year is authorized for community-based prevention and
intervention for gang members and at-risk youth in gang areas.
And, finally, as I have already noted, the bill authorizes $45
million over 3 years for innovative alternative education programs to
make our schools safer places of learning while helping ensure that the
youth most at risk do not get left behind.
Lastly, Mr. President, let me address a provision in the bill which
will prohibit firearms possession by violent juvenile offenders. This
section extends the ban in current law on firearm ownership by certain
felons to certain juvenile offenders. Juveniles who are adjudicated
delinquent for an offense which would be a serious violent felony as
defined in 18 U.S.C. 3559(C)(2)(f)(i)--the federal three strikes
statute--were the offense committed by an adult will no longer be able
to legally own firearms. This is common sense. If tried and convicted
as adults, these criminals would automatically forfeit their right to
own a gun.
However, we should learn our lesson as well from the so-called
domestic violence gun ban enacted several years ago. If the offense
records that allow us to know who is covered by the ban are not
available, the law is hollow, or worse--it will be enforced only in
arbitrary cases. For this reason, the ban we propose is prospective
only, applying only to delinquent acts committed after records of such
offenses are routinely available within the National Instant Check
System instituted pursuant to the Brady Law.
We should also resist seeing this provision as any sort of panacea.
Laws banning criminals from owning firearms have not stopped them from
doing so, for a simple reason--criminals do not respect or obey the
law. So
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while this provision is an appropriate step, we should be under no
illusion that it is the answer to our juvenile crime problem.
Mr. President, I believe that we all agree that it is far better to
prevent the fabric of civility from being rent than to deal with the
aftermath of juvenile crime. In the face of a confounding problem like
juvenile crime, it is tempting to look for easy answers. I do not
believe that we should succumb to this temptation. We are faced, I
believe, with a problem which cannot be solved solely by the enactment
of new criminal prohibitions. It is at its core a moral problem.
Somehow, too frequently we have failed as a society to pass along to
the next generation the moral compass that differentiates right from
wrong. This cannot be legislated. It will not be restored by the
enactment of a new law or the implementation of a new program. But it
can be achieved by communities working together to teach accountability
by example and by early intervention when the signs clearly point to
violent and antisocial behavior.
Mr. President, that is what the bill we introduce is all about. It is
a comprehensive approach to this national problem. I believe that it
now is time for the Senate to act. I urge my colleagues to review this
legislation, to support it, and to support its early debate and passage
by the Senate.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a bill summary prepared
by the Judiciary Committee staff and an article by Patricia Cornwell be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
The Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and
Rehabilitation Act of 1999--Section-by-Section Analysis
Attached is a summary of the major provisions of S. , the
Hatch-Sessions Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender
Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 1999, as introduced
January 19, 1999.
Should you have any questions about the bill not answered
by this summary or the Committee Report, please call Mike
Kennedy or Rhett DeHart of the Senate Judiciary Committee
staff at (202) 224-5225.
general provisions
Sec. 1 Short Title, Table of Contents. This section
entitles the bill as the ``Violent and Repeat Juvenile
Offender Act of 1999'', and provides a table of contents for
the bill.
Sec. 2 Findings and Purpose. This section provides
Congressional findings related to juvenile crime, the
juvenile justice system, and the changes needed to reform the
juvenile justice system to curb youth violence, ensure
accountability by youthful criminals, improve federal
juvenile delinquency prevention efforts, and recognize the
needs of crime victims.
Sec. 3 Severability. This section provides severability
for the provisions of the Act.
title i--juvenile justice reform
This title reforms the procedures by which juveniles who
commit Federal crimes are prosecuted and punished.
Sec. 101 Repeal of General Provision. This section repeals
the provision establishing the general practice of
surrendering to State authorities juveniles arrested for the
commission of Federal offenses.
Sec. 102 Treatment of Federal Juvenile Offenders. General
Provisions: This section gives the U.S. Attorney the
discretion to prosecute juveniles age 14 years or older as
adults for violations of Federal law which are serious
violent felonies or serious drug offenses (as these terms are
defined in 18 U.S.C. 3559, the Federal 3-strike statute).
Juveniles 14 and older may be prosecuted as adults for any
other felony violation of Federal law only with the approval
of the Attorney General. If approval is not given, or, for
all misdemeanor violations of Federal law, juveniles would be
proceeded against as juveniles, or referred to State or
tribal authorities. Referral to state or tribal authorities
would be presumed in all cases of concurrent state and
federal jurisdiction, unless a state refused the case, or an
overriding federal interest existed. In the special case of
juveniles alleged to have committed a federal offense and who
have a prior occasion been tried and convicted as an adult in
federal court, waiver to adult status would be automatic.
Reverse Waiver Provision: Juveniles 15 and younger charged
as an adult for serious violent felonies or serious drug
offenses, and juveniles of any age charged as an adult for
other felonies, may appeal their waiver to adult status. The
juvenile would have 20 days to seek a judicial order
returning the juvenile to juvenile status. The prosecutor
would be permitted in interlocutory appeal from an adverse
ruling, but a juvenile's appeal would be consolidated at the
end of the case.
Application to Indian Tribes: This section also includes a
limited tribal opt-in for Native American juveniles 15 and
under when federal jurisdiction is based solely on the
commission of the offense on tribal land. A tribal opt-in to
federal procedures would be required to prosecute these
juveniles as adults, although they could still be adjudicated
in federal delinquency proceedings, even in the absence of a
tribal opt-in.
Procedures: When prosecuted as adults, juveniles in Federal
criminal cases would be subject to the same procedures and
penalties as adults, including availability of records, open
proceedings, and sentencing procedures. Exceptions are
provided waiving the application of mandatory minimums to
juveniles under age 16 who have no previous serious violent
felony or serious drug offense convictions, and barring the
availability of the death penalty in any offense committed
before the juvenile was 18.
This section also provides that juveniles tried as adults
and sentenced to prison must serve their entire sentences,
and may not be released on the basis of attaining their
majority, and applies to juveniles convicted as adults the
same provisions of victim restitution, including mandatory
restitution, that apply to adults.
Sec. 103 Definitions. This section provides definitions
for terms used, including new definitions to ensure that
juveniles accused or convicted of Federal offenses are
separated from adults and to conform the definition of the
term ``juvenile'' with the procedural changes made by this
title.
Sec. 104 Notification after Arrest. This section conforms
the requirement, in 18 U.S.C. 5033, that certain persons be
notified of the arrest of a juvenile for a Federal crime,
with the procedural changes in section 102 of this subtitle,
which vests discretion to prosecute juveniles as adults with
the U.S. Attorney for the district in the appropriate
jurisdiction. This section also provides for the notification
of the juveniles' parents or guardians, and prohibits the
post-arrest housing of juveniles with adults.
Sec. 105 Release and Detention Prior to Disposition. This
section provides for pretrial detention juveniles tried as
adults on the same basis as adults, and prohibits the
pretrial or pre-disposition detention of juveniles with
adults.
Sec. 106 Speedy Trial. This section extends, from 30 to 70
days, the time in which the trial of a juvenile in detention
must be commenced, and applies in juvenile cases the same
tolling provisions for such time period that apply in adult
prosecutions.
Sec. 107 Dispositional Hearings. This section provides for
the sentencing of that juveniles found to be delinquent, but
not tried as adults. It provides for a hearing on the matter
within 40 days of an adjudication of delinquency, and
provides for victim allocution at the hearing. The section
provides a range of sentencing options to the court,
including probation, fines, restitution, and/or imprisonment,
and provides that terms of imprisonment may be imposed upon
them for the same term as adults, except that such
imprisonment must be terminated on the juvenile's 26th
birthday. Juveniles sentenced to imprisonment may not be
released solely on the basis of attaining their majority.
Sec. 108 Use of Juvenile Records. This section provides
that the federal criminal records of juveniles tried as
adults, and the federal delinquency records of juveniles
adjudicated delinquent for certain serious offenses such as
murder, rape, armed robbery, and sexual abuse or assault, are
to be treated for all purposes in the same manner as the
records of adults for the same offenses. Other federal felony
juvenile criminal or delinquency records would be treated the
same as adult records for criminal justice or national
security background check purposes.
This section also permits juvenile federal felony juvenile
criminal and delinquency records to be provided to schools
and colleges under rules issued by the Attorney General,
provided that recipients of the records are held to privacy
standards and that the records not be used to determine
admission.
Sec. 109 Implementation of a Sentence for Juvenile
Offenders. This section provides for the implementation of a
sentence on a delinquent or criminal juvenile and directs the
Bureau of Prisons to not confine juveniles in any institution
where the juvenile would not be separated from adult inmates.
Sec. 110 Magistrate Judge Authority Regarding Juvenile
Defendants. This section extends the jurisdiction of Federal
magistrate judges to class A misdemeanors involving
juveniles; permits magistrate judges to impose terms of
imprisonment on juveniles, and conforms the section
conferring authority on magistrate judges with the procedural
changes made by section 102.
Sec. 111 Federal Sentencing Guidelines. This section
conforms the Sentencing Reform Act to ensure that the Federal
Sentencing Guidelines relating to maximum penalties for
violent crimes and serious drug crimes apply to juveniles
tried as adults.
This section also amends the Sentencing Reform Act to
direct the Sentencing Commission to promulgate sentencing
guidelines for sentencing juveniles tried as adults in
Federal court, and for dispositional hearings (the equivalent
of sentencing) for juveniles adjudicated delinquent in the
Federal system.
Sec. 112 Study and Report on Indian Tribal Jurisdiction.
This section requires the Attorney General to study and
report to the Congress on the capabilities of tribal courts
and criminal justice systems relating to the prosecution of
juvenile criminals under tribal jurisdiction, and requires
the Attorney General to evaluate an expansion of tribal court
criminal jurisdiction.
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title ii--juvenile gangs
Sec. 201 Solicitation or Recruitment of Persons in
Criminal Gang Activity. This section makes the recruitment or
solicitation of persons to participate in gang activity
subject to a one-year minimum and 10-year maximum penalty, or
a fine of up to $250,000. If a minor is recruited or
solicited, the minimum penalty is increased to four years. In
addition, a person convicted of this crime would have to pay
the costs of housing, maintaining, and treating the juvenile
until the juvenile reaches the age of 18 years.
Sec. 202 Increased Penalties for Using Minors to
Distribute Drugs. This section increases the penalties for
using minors to distribute controlled substances.
Sec. 203 Penalties for Use of Minors in Crimes of
Violence. This section increases twofold, and for a second or
subsequent offense threefold, the penalties for using minors
in the commission of a crime of violence.
Sec. 204 Amendment of Sentencing Guidelines With Respect
to Body Armor. This section directs the United States
Sentencing Commission to provide a minimum two level
sentencing enhancement for any defendant committing a Federal
crime while wearing body armor.
Sec. 205 High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas.
This section authorizes the Attorney General to establish
joint agency task forces to address gang crime in areas with
high concentrations of gang activity. This provision
authorizes $100 million per year for this program; $75
million per year is authorized for establishment and
operation of High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas,
and $25 million per year is authorized for community-based
gang prevention and intervention for gang members and at-risk
youth in gang areas.
Sec. 206 Increasing the Penalty for Using Physical Force
to Tamper With Witnesses, Victims, or Informants. This
section increases the penalty from a maximum of 10 years'
imprisonment to a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment for using
or threatening physical force against any person with intent
to tamper with a witness, victim, or informant. This section
also adds a conspiracy penalty for obstruction of justice
offenses involving victims, witnesses, and informants. In
addition, this section makes traveling in interstate or
foreign commerce to bribe, threaten or intimidate a witness
to delay or influence testimony in a State criminal
proceeding a violation of the Federal Travel Act, 18 U.S.C.
Section 1952.
title iii--juvenile crime control, accountability, and delinquency
prevention
This title reforms and enhances federal assistance to State
and local juvenile crime control and delinquency prevention
programs. Subtitle A amends and reauthorizes the Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA), to
provide assistance to States for effective youth crime
control and accountability.
Sec. 301 Findings; Declaration of Purpose; Definitions.
This section rewrites Title I of the JJDPA. It updates and
revises the Congressional findings and declaration of purpose
contained in the JJDPA to reflect the reality of violent
juvenile crime, promote the primacy of accountability in the
juvenile justice system, and recognize the rights and needs
of victims of juvenile crime. This section also revises and
updates the definitions governing the JJDPA.
Sec. 302 Juvenile Crime Control and Delinquency
Prevention. This section rewrites Title II of the JJDPA. It
reforms and renames the current Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention within the Department of Justice,
improves services to State and local governments, and reforms
and streamlines existing JJDPA grant programs. Among the
specific provisions of the rewritten JJDPA Title II:
Reforms JJDPA Title II Part A--the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of the Department
of Justice, is renamed the Office of Juvenile Crime Control
and Prevention (OJCCP), with an Administrator appointed by
the President and confirmed by the Senate. This section also
enhances the effectiveness of the OJCCP by requiring the
OJCCP Administrator to: present to Congress annual plans,
with measurable goals, to control and prevent youth crime;
coordinate all Federal programs relating to controlling and
preventing youth crime; disseminate to States and local
governments data on the prevention, correction and control of
juvenile crime and delinquency, and report on successful
programs and methods; and serve as a single point of contact
for States, localities, and private entities to apply for and
coordinate all federal assistance and programs related to
juvenile crime control and delinquency prevention.
Consolidates numerous JJDPA programs, including Part C
Special Emphasis grants, State challenge grants, boot camps,
and JJDPA Title V incentive grants, under an enhanced
prevention challenge block grant to the States.
Reauthorizes the State formula grants under Part B of Title
II of the JJDPA:
Reforms the 3 current ``core mandates'' on the States
relating to the incarceration of juveniles (known as sight
and sound separation, jail removal, and status offender
mandates,) to ensure the protection of juveniles in custody
while providing state and local governments with needed
flexibility; provisions are based on
H.R. 1818 from the 105th
Congress, but to ensure that abuse of juvenile delinquent
inmates is not permitted, includes modified definitions from
the 105th Congress
S. 10 regarding what constitutes contact
between juveniles and adults--no prohibited physical contact
or sustained oral communication would permitted between
juveniles delinquents in detention and adult inmates;
Modifies the current ``core mandate'' requiring states to
address efforts to reduce the disproportionate number of
minorities in juvenile detention in comparison with their
proportion to the population at large, to make the language
race-neutral and constitutional;
The four ``core mandates'' retained in modified form are
each enforceable by a 12.5 percent reduction in a State's
Part B funding for non-compliance. The Administrator may
waive the penalty.
Revises JJDPA Title II Part C, to enhance federal research
efforts into successful juvenile crime control and
delinquency prevention programs; reauthorizes JJDPA Title II
Part D Gang prevention programs, and reforms the program to
provide an emphasis on the disruption and prosecution of
gangs; includes a discretionary prevention grant program
designated as Part E of Title II of the JJDPA; retains the
current Part G Mentoring program under Title II of the JJDPA,
redesignating it as Part F, and adding a pilot program to
encourage and develop mentoring programs that focus on the
entire family instead of simply the juvenile and which
utilize the existing resources and infrastructure of the
Cooperative Extension Services of Land Grant Universities;
and designates JJDPA Title II Part G for administrative
provisions, including: providing rules against use of federal
funds for behavior control experimentation, lobbying, or
litigation; subjecting JJDPA and Juvenile Accountability
Block Grants (in Title III, Subtitle B of this bill) to a
religious and charitable non-discrimination provision cross-
referenced from the welfare reform law; providing significant
funding directly from the Department of Justice for juvenile
delinquency prevention and juvenile accountability programs
in Indian country; and providing authorizations of
appropriations for the JJDPA and the Juvenile Accountability
Block Grants, as follows:
Authorizes $1 billion per year for five years, under the
following formula: $450 million (45%) for Juvenile
Accountability Block Grants; $435 million (43.5%) for
prevention programs under the JJDPA, including $200 million
for Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Block Grants, $200
million for Part B Formula grant prevention programs, and $35
million for Gangs, Mentoring and Discretionary grant
programs; $75 million (7.5%) for grants to states to upgrade
and enhance juvenile felony criminal record histories and to
make such records available within NCIC, the national
criminal history database used by law enforcement, the
courts, and prosecutors; and $40 million (4%) for NIJ
research and evaluation of the effectiveness of juvenile
delinquency prevention programs.
Sec. 303 Runaway and Homeless Youth. This section reforms
the Runaway and Homeless Youth program, and reauthorizes it
through FY 2004. The reforms steamline the program, provide
for targeting federal assistance to areas with the greatest
need, and make numerous technical changes.
Sec. 304 National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children. This section improves and reauthorizes the Missing
and Exploited Children program through FY 2004, providing on-
going authorization for grants to the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children.
Sec 305. Transfer of Functions and Savings Provisions.
This section provides technical and administrative rules to
transfer functions, and to govern the transition from the
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to
the Office of Juvenile Crime Control and Prevention.
Subtitle B Accountability for Juvenile Offenders and Public Protection
Incentive Grants
Sec. 321 Block Grant Program. Accountability Block Grant:
This section establishes an incentive block grant program for
States, authorized at $450 million for each of the next five
fiscal years, as well as a separate $50 million per year
grant program for the upgrade and enhancement of juvenile
criminal records. The incentive block grants would fund a
variety of programs, such as constructing juvenile offender
detention facilities, implementing graduated sanctions
programs; fingerprinting or conducting DNA tests on juvenile
offenders; establishing record-keeping ability; establishing
SHOCAP programs; enforcing truancy laws; and various
prevention programs including after-school youth activities,
antigang initiatives, literacy programs, and job training
programs. Indian tribes receive separate grants under this
section.
State receipt of the incentive grants would be conditioned
on the adoption of three core accountability policies: the
establishment of graduated sanctions to ensure appropriate
correction of juvenile offenders, drug testing juvenile
offenders upon arrest in appropriate cases; and recognition
of victims rights and needs in the juvenile justice system.
Fifty percent of the funds under the grant program are
designated for implementing graduated sanctions or increasing
juvenile detention space if needed by the State. Federal the
remaining fifty percent can be used for any authorized grant
purpose. Detention space construction projects must be funded
by not less than fifty percent State or local (i.e.,
nonfederal grant) money.
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The block grant includes a pass-through requirement
intended to provide a formula for local funding that reflects
the needs and responsibilities of state and local levels of
government. Seventy percent of the funds received by the
State under this block grant must be passed through to the
local level, unless the state organizes its juvenile justice
system exclusively on the State level.
Juvenile Records Grants: Criminal and juvenile record
improvement grants for the States are authorized to encourage
states to treat the records of juveniles who commit and are
adjudicated delinquent for the felonies of murder, armed
robbery, and sexual assault be treated the same as adult
criminal records for the same offenses in the state, and to
treat records of juveniles who commit any other felony be
treated, for criminal justice purposes only, the same as
adult criminal records for the same offenses. Such records
would be available interstate within the NCIC system.
Sec. 322 Pilot Program to Promote Replication of Recent
Successful Juvenile Crime Reduction Strategies. This section
authorizes the Attorney General to fund pilot programs to
replicate the successful juvenile crime reduction program
utilized by Boston, Massachusetts. Pilot program grant
recipients would adopt a juvenile crime reduction strategy
involving close collaboration among Federal, State, and local
law enforcement authorities, and including religious
affiliated or fraternal organizations, school officials,
social service agencies, and parent or local grass roots
organizations. Emphasis would be placed on initiating
effective crime prevention programs and tracing firearms
seized from crime scenes or offenders in an effort to
identify illegal gun traffickers who are supplying weapons to
gangs and other criminal enterprises
Sec. 323 Repeal of Unnecessary and Duplicative Programs.
This section repeals duplicative and wasteful programs
enacted as a part of the 1994 crime law, including the Ounce
of Prevention Council, the Model Intensive Grant program, the
Local Partnership Act, the National Community Economic
Partnership, the Urban Recreation and At-Risk Youth Program,
and the Family Unity Demonstration Project.
Sec. 324 Extension of Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund.
This section extends the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund,
established in the 1994 omnibus crime law, to fund programs
authorized by this act.
Sec. 325 Reimbursement of States for the Costs of
Incarcerating Juvenile Aliens. This section adds juvenile
aliens to the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which
provides reimbursement to the States for the costs of
incarcerating criminal aliens.
Sec. 326 Sense of Congress. This section provides the
sense of Congress that States should enact legislation to
provide that if an offense that would be a capital offense if
committed by an adult is committed by a juvenile between the
ages of 10 and 14, the juvenile could, with judicial
approval, be tried and punished as an adult, provided the
death penalty would not be available in such cases.
Subtitle C--Alternative Education and Delinquency Prevention
Sec. 331 Alternative Education. This section amends the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to provide
demonstration grants to state and local education agencies
for alternative education in appropriate settings for
disruptive or delinquent students, to improve the academic
and social performance of these students and to improve the
safety and learning environment of regular classrooms.
Certain matching amounts required under this program could
be made from amounts available to the State or local
governments under the JJDPA. Appropriations under the ESEA
of $15 million per year for four years are authorized.
Title IV--Miscellaneous Provisions
Subtitle A--General Provisions
Sec. 401 Prohibition on Firearms Possession by Violent
Juvenile Offenders. This section extends the ban on firearm
ownership by certain felons to persons who, as juveniles, are
adjudicated delinquent for an offense which would be a
serious violent felony as defined in 18 U.S.C.
3559(c)(2)(F)(i) (the federal three strikes statute), were
the offense committed by an adult. The ban is prospective,
applying only to delinquent acts committed after records of
such offenses are routinely available within the National
Instant Check System instituted pursuant to the Brady Law.
Subtitle B--Jail-Based Substance Abuse
Sec. 421 Jail-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Program.
This section provides that 10 percent of grants to States for
drug treatment in prisons (RSAT grants) should be directed to
qualified treatment programs in jails; under current law,
these funds are limited to prison treatment. This section
also allows RSAT grants to be used to provide post-
incarceration substance abuse treatment for former inmates if
the Governor certifies to the U.S. Attorney General that the
State is providing, and will continue to provide, an adequate
level of treatment services to incarcerated inmates.
____
When the Fabric Is Rent
(By Patricia Cornwell)
There was a saying in the morgue during those long six
years I worked there. When a person is touched by violence,
the fabric of civility is forever rent, or ripped or
breached, whatever word is most graphic to you.
Our country is the most violent one in the free world, and
as far as I'm concerned, we are becoming increasingly
incompetent in preventing and prosecuting cruel crimes that
we foolishly think happen only to others. There was another
saying in the morgue. The one thing every dead person had in
common in that place was he never thought he'd end up there.
He never imagined his name would be penned in black ink in
the big black book that is ominously omnipresent on a counter
top in the autopsy suite.
I have seen hundreds, maybe close to a thousand dead bodies
by now, many of them ruined by another person's hands. I
return to the morgue at least two or three times a year to
painfully remind myself that what I'm writing about is awful
and final and real.
I suffer from nightmares and don't remember the last time I
had a pleasant dream. I have very strong emotional responses
to crimes that have nothing to do with me, such as Versace's
murder, and more recently, the random shooting deaths of
Capitol Police Agent John Gibson and Officer Jacob Chestnut.
I can't read sad, scary or violent books. I watched only half
of ``Titanic'' because I could not bear its sadness. I
stormed out of Ann Rice's ``Interview With A Vampire,'' so
furious my hands were shaking because the movie is such an
outrageous trivialization and celebration of sexual violence.
For me the suffering, the blood, the deaths are real.
I'd like to confront Ann Rice with bitemarks and other
sadistic wounds that are not special effects. I'd like to
sentence Oliver Stone to a month in the morgue, make him sit
in the cooler for a while and see what an audience of victims
has to say about his films. I'd like O.J. Simpson to have
total recall and suffer, go broke, be ostracized, never be
allowed on a golf course again. I was in a pub in London when
that verdict was read. I'll never forget the amazed faces of
a suddenly mute group of beer-drinking Brits, or the shame my
friends and I felt because in America it is absolutely true.
Justice is blind.
Justice has stumbled off the road of truth and fallen
headlong into a thicket of subjective verdicts where evidence
doesn't count and plea bargains that are such a bargain they
are fire sales. I've begun to fear that the consequences and
punishment of violent crime have become some sort of mindless
multiple choice, a ``Let's Make A Deal,'' a ``Let's microwave
the popcorn and watch Court TV.''
I have been asked to tell you what my fictional character
Dr. Scarpetta would do if she were the crime czar or
Virginia, of America. Since she and I share the same opinions
and views, I am stepping out from behind my curtain of
imagined deeds and characters and telling you what I feel and
think.
It startles me to realize that at age 42, I have spent
almost half my life studying crime, of living and working in
it's pitifully cold, smelly, ugly environment. I am often
asked why people cheat, rob, stalk, slander, maim and murder.
How can anybody enjoy causing another human being or any
living creature destruction and pain? I will tell you in
three words: Abuse of power. Everything in life is about the
power we appropriate for good or destruction, and the
ultimate overpowering of a life is to make it suffer and end.
This includes children who put on camouflage and get into
the family guns. We don't want to believe that 12, 13, 16
year old youths are unredeemable. Most of them aren't. But
it's time we face that some of them have transgressed beyond
forgiveness, certainly beyond trust. Not all victims I have
seen pass through the morgue were savaged by adults. The
creative cruelty of some young killers is the worst of the
worst, images of what they did to their victims ones I wish I
could delete.
About a year ago, I began researching juvenile crime for
the follow-up of ``Hornet's Next'' (Southern Cross, January,
'99) and my tenth Scarpetta book (unfinished and untitled
yet). This was a territory I had yet to explore. I was
inspired by the depressing fact that in the last ten years,
shootings, hold-ups at ATM's, and premeditated murders
committed by juveniles have risen 160 percent. As I ventured
into my eleventh and twelfth novels, I wondered what my
crusading characters would do with violent children.
So I spent months in Raleigh watching members of the
Governor's Commission on Juvenile Crime and Justice debate
and rewrite their juvenile crime laws, as Virginia did in
1995 under the leadership of Jim Gilmore. I quizzed Senator
Orrin Hatch about his youth violence bill,
S. 10, a federal
approach to reforming a juvenile justice system that is
failing our society. I toured detention homes in Richmond and
elsewhere. I sat in on juvenile court cases and talked to
inmates who were juveniles when they began their lives of
crime.
While it is true that many violent juveniles have abuse,
neglect, and the absence of values in their homes, I maintain
my belief that all people should be held accountable for
their actions. Our first priority should be to keep our
communities safe. We must remove violent people from our
midst, no matter their age. As Marcia Morey, executive
director of North Carolina's juvenile crime commission,
constantly preaches, ``We must stop the hemorrhage
first.''
When the trigger is pulled, when the knife is plunged, kids
aren't kids anymore. We should not shield and give excuses
and probation to violent juveniles who, odds are, will harm
or kill again if they are returned to our neighborhoods and
schools. We should
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not treat young violent offenders with sealed lips and
exclusive proceedings.
``The secrecy and confidentiality of our system have hurt
us,'' says Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District
Court Judge Kimberly O'Donnell. ``What people can't see and
hear is often difficult for them to understand.''
Virginia has opened its courtrooms to the public, and Judge
O'Donnell encourages people to sit in hers and see for
themselves those juveniles who are remorseless and those who
can be saved. Most juveniles who end up in court are not
repeat offenders. But for that small number who threaten us
most, I advocate hard, non-negotiable judgment. Most of what
I would like to see is already being done in Virginia. But we
need juvenile justice reform nationally, a system that is
sensible and consistent from state to state.
As it is now, if a juvenile commits a felony in Virginia,
when he turns 18 his record is not expunged and will follow
him for the rest of his days. But were he to commit the same
felony in North Carolina, at 16 he'll be released from a
correctional facility with no record of any crime he
committed in that state. Let's say he's back on the street
and returns to Virginia. Now he's a juvenile again, and
police, prosecutors, judges or juries will never know what he
did in North Carolina.
If he moves to yet another state where the legal age is 21,
he can commit felonies for three or four more years and have
no record of them, either. Maybe by then he's committed
fifteen felonies but is only credited with the one he
committed in Virginia. Maybe when he becomes an adult and is
violent again, he gets a light sentence or even probation,
since it appears he's committed only one felony in his life
instead of fifteen. He'll be back among us soon enough. Maybe
his next victim will be you.
If national juvenile justice reform were up to me, I'd be
strict. I would not be popular with extreme child advocates.
If I had my way, it would be routine that when any juvenile
commits a violent crime, his name and personal life are
publicized. Records of juveniles who commit felonies should
not be expunged when the individual becomes an adult. Mug
shots, fingerprints and the DNA of violent juveniles should,
at the very least, be available to police, prosecutors, and
schools, and if they young violent offender has an extensive
record and commits another crime, plea bargaining should be
limited or at least informed.
Juveniles who rape, murder or commit other heinous acts
should be tried as adults, but judges should have the
discretionary power to decide when this is merited. I want to
see more court-ordered restitution and mediation. Let's turn
off the TV's in correctional centers and force assailants,
robbers, thieves to work to pay back what they've destroyed
and taken, as much as that is possible. Confront them with
their victims, face to face. Perhaps a juvenile might realize
the awful deed he's done if his victim is suddenly a person
with feelings, loved ones, scars, a name.
Prevention is a more popular word than punishment. But the
solution to what's happening in our society, particularly to
our youths, is simpler and infinitely harder than any
federally or privately funded program. All of us live
in neighborhoods. Unless you are in solitary confinement
or a coma, you are aware of others around you. Quite
likely you are exposed to children who are sad, lost,
ignored, neglected or abused. Try to help. Do it in
person.
I remember my first few years in Richmond when I was living
at Union Theological Seminary, where my former husband was a
student and I was a struggling, somewhat failed writer.
Charlie and I spent five years in a seminary apartment
complex where there was a little boy who enjoyed throwing a
tennis ball against the building in a staccato that was
torture to me.
I was working on novels nobody wanted and every time that
ball thunked against brick, I lost my train of thought. I'd
popped out of my chair and fly outside to order the kid to
stop, but somehow he was always gone without a trace, silence
restored for an hour or two. One day I caught him. I was
about to reprimand him when I saw the fear and loneliness in
his eyes.
``What's your name?'' I asked.
``Eddie,'' he said.
``How old are you?''
``Ten.''
``It's not a good idea to throw a ball against the
building. It makes it hard for some of us to work.''
``I know.'' He shrugged.
``If you know, then why do you do it?''
``Because I have no one to play catch with me,'' he
replied.
My memory lit up with acts of kindness when I was a lonely
child living in the small town of Montreat, North Carolina.
Adult neighbors had taken time to play tennis with me. They
had invited me, the only girl in town, to play baseball or
touch football w
Amendments:
Cosponsors:
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Sponsor:
Summary:
All articles in Senate section
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
(Senate - January 20, 1999)
Text of this article available as:
TXT
PDF
[Pages
S750-S799]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Thurmond, Mr.
Abraham, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Ashcroft):
S. 254. A bill to reduce violent juvenile crime, promote
accountability by rehabilitation of juvenile criminals, punish and
deter violent gang crime, and for other purposes; read the first time.
VIOLENT AND REPEAT JUVENILE OFFENDER ACCOUNTABILITY AND REHABILITATION
ACT OF 1999
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I am proud today to introduce the Violent
and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of
1999. I am pleased to be joined by Senator Sessions, the distinguished
chairman of the Youth Violence Subcommittee, as well as Senator DeWine.
There are few issues that will come before the Senate this year that
touch the lives of more of our fellow Americans than our national
response to juvenile crime. Crime and delinquency among juveniles is a
problem that troubles us in our neighborhoods, schools and parks. It is
the subject across the dinner table, and in those late night, worried
conversations all parents have had at one time or another. The subject
is familiar--how can we prevent our children from falling victim--
either to crime committed by another juvenile, or to the lure of drugs,
crime, and gangs.
Their concerns should be our concerns. The sad reality is that we can
no longer sit silently by as children kill children, as teenagers
commit truly heinous offenses, as our juvenile drug abuse rate
continues to climb. In 1997, juveniles accounted for nearly one fifth--
18.7 percent--of all criminal arrests in the United States. Persons
under 18 committed 13.5 percent of all murders, over 17 percent of all
rapes, nearly 30 percent of all robberies, and 50 percent of all
arsons.
In 1997, 183 juveniles under 15 were arrested for murder. Juveniles
under 15 were responsible for 6.5 percent of all rapes, 14 percent of
all burglaries, and one third of all arsons. And, unbelievably,
juveniles under 15--who are not old enough to legally drive in any
state--in 1997 were responsible for 10.3 percent of all auto thefts.
To put this in some context, consider this: in 1997, youngsters age
15 to 19, who are only 7 percent of the population, committed 22.2
percent of all crimes, 21.4 percent of violent crimes, and 32 percent
of property crimes.
And although there are endless statistics on our growing juvenile
crime problem, one particularly sobering fact is that, between 1985 and
1993, the number of murder cases involving 15-year olds increased 207
percent. We have kids involved in murder before they can even drive.
Even my state of Utah has not been immune from these trends. Indeed,
a 1997 study by Brigham Young University Professor Richard Johnson
found that Utah's juvenile arrest rate is the highest in the nation.
Additionally, as an indication of the increasingly serious nature of
juvenile offenses in Utah, between 1990 and 1996 the number of
juveniles sentenced to youth corrections increased 142 percent, and the
number of juveniles requiring detention in a secure facility more than
doubled. And in 1995, the average Utah juvenile offender had
accumulated an astonishing average of 23 misdemeanors, 8 felony
convictions, and 2.4 status offense convictions before being sentenced
to a secure youth facility.
In short, our juvenile crime problem has taken a new and sinister
direction. But cold statistics alone cannot tell the whole story. Crime
has real effects on the lives of real people. Last fall, I read an
article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch by my good friend, crime
novelist Patricia Cornwell. It is one of the finest pieces I have read
on the effects of and solutions to our juvenile crime problem.
Let me share with my colleagues some of what Ms. Cornwell, who has
spent the better part of her adult life studying and observing crime
and its effects, has to say. She says ``when a person is touched by
violence, the fabric of civility is forever rent, or ripped, or
breached . . .'' This is a graphic but accurate description. Countless
lives can be ruined by a single violent crime. There is, of course, the
victim, who may be dead, or scarred for life. There are the family and
friends of the victim, who are traumatized as well, and who must live
with the loss of a loved one. Society itself is harmed, when each of us
is a little more frightened to walk on our streets at night, to use an
ATM, or to jog or bike in our parks. And, yes, there is the offender
who has chosen to throw his or her life away. Particularly when the
offender is a juvenile, family, friends, and society are made poorer
for the waste of potential in every human being. One crime, but
permanent effects when ``the fabric of civility is rent.''
This is the reality that has driven me to work for the last three
years to address this issue. In this effort, I have been joined by a
bipartisan majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which last
Congress reported comprehensive legislation on a bipartisan,
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two to one vote. Indeed, among members of the Youth Violence
Subcommittee, the vote was seven to two in favor of the bill.
The Judiciary Committee's legislation last Congress would have
fundamentally reformed the role played by the federal government in
addressing juvenile crime in our Nation. It was supported by law
enforcement organizations such as the Fraternal Order of Police, the
National Sheriffs Association, and the National Troopers Coalition, as
well as the support of juvenile justice practitioners such as the
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and victim's
groups including the National Victims Center and the National
Organization for Victims Assistance.
The bill we introduce today builds on those efforts. Our reform
proposal includes the best of what we know works. It combines tough
measures to protect the public from the worst juvenile criminals, smart
measures to provide intervention and correction at the earliest acts of
delinquency, and compassionate measures to rehabilitate juvenile
offenders and to supplement and enhance extensive existing prevention
programs to keep juveniles out of the cycle of crime, violence, drugs,
and gangs.
Mr. President, let me spell out in great detail the provisions of
this bill, and how it will help reform the juvenile justice system that
is failing the victims of juvenile crime, failing too many of our young
people, and ultimately, failing to protect the public.
First, this bill reforms and streamlines the federal juvenile code,
to responsibly address the handful of cases each year involving
juveniles who commit crimes under federal jurisdiction. Our bill sets a
uniform age of 14 for the permissive transfer of juvenile defendants to
adult court, permits prosecutors and the Attorney General to make the
decision whether to charge a juvenile offender as an adult, and permits
in certain circumstances juveniles charged as an adult to petition the
court to be returned to juvenile status.
It also provides that when prosecuted as adults, juveniles in Federal
criminal cases will be subject to the same procedures and penalties as
adults, except for the application of mandatory minimums in most cases.
Of course, the death penalty would not be available as punishment for
any offense committed before the juvenile was 18.
The bill similarly provides that juveniles tried as adults and
sentenced to prison must serve their entire sentences, and may not be
released on the basis of attaining their majority, and applies to
juveniles convicted as adults the same provisions of victim
restitution, including mandatory restitution, that apply to adults.
Finally, in reforming the federal system, I believe that we must lead
by example. So our bill provides that the federal criminal records of
juveniles tried as adults, and the federal delinquency records of
juveniles adjudicated delinquent for certain serious offenses such as
murder, rape, armed robbery, and sexual abuse or assault, will be
treated for all purposes in the same manner as the records of adults
for the same offenses. Other federal felony juvenile criminal or
delinquency records would be treated the same as adult records for
criminal justice or national security background check purposes.
The bill also permits juvenile federal felony criminal and
delinquency records to be provided to schools and colleges under rules
issued by the Attorney General, provided that recipients of the records
are held to privacy standards and that the records not be used to
determine admission.
Let me assure any who may be concerned that it is not our intent in
reforming the federal juvenile code to federalize juvenile crime--
indeed, no conduct that is not a federal crime now will be if this
reform is enacted. I do not intend or expect a substantial increase in
the number of juvenile cases adjudicated or prosecuted in federal
court. It is our intent, rather, to ensure that when there is a federal
crime warranting the federal prosecution of a juvenile, the federal
government assumes its responsibility to deal with it, rather than
saddling the states with that burden.
Second, at the heart of this bill is an historic reform and
reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
of 1974, the most comprehensive review of that legislation in 25 years.
The States for several years have been far ahead of the Federal
Government in implementing innovative reforms of their juvenile justice
systems. For example, between 1992 and 1996, of the 50 States and the
District of Columbia, 48 made substantive changes to their juvenile
justice systems. Among the trends in State law changes are the removal
of more serious and violent offenders from the juvenile justice system,
in favor of criminal court prosecution; new and innovative disposition/
sentencing options for juveniles; and the revision, in favor of
openness, of traditional confidentiality provisions relating to
juvenile proceedings and records.
While the States have been making fundamental changes in their
approaches to juvenile justice, however, the Federal Government has
made no significant change to its approach and has done little to
encourage State and local reform. Thus, the juvenile justice terrain
has shifted beneath the Federal Government, leaving its programs and
policies out of step and largely irrelevant to the needs of State and
local governments. This bill corrects this imbalance between State and
Federal juvenile justice policy, and will help ensure that federal
programs support the needs of State and local governments.
First, our bill reforms and strengthens the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of the Department of
Justice. The effectiveness of the OJJDP will be enhanced by requiring
its Administrator to present to Congress annual plans, with measurable
goals, to control and prevent youth crime, coordinate all Federal
programs relating to controlling and preventing youth crime, and
disseminate to States and local governments data on the prevention,
correction and control of juvenile crime and delinquency, and report on
successful programs and methods.
And, most important to state and local governments, in the future,
OJJDP will serve as a single point of contact for States, localities,
and private entities to apply for and coordinate all federal assistance
and programs related to juvenile crime control and delinquency
prevention. This one-stop-shopping for federal programs and assistance
will help state and local governments focus on the problem, instead of
on how to navigate the federal bureaucracy.
Second, our reform bill consolidates numerous JJDPA programs,
including Part C Special Emphasis grants, State challenge grants, boot
camps, and JJDPA Title V incentive grants, under an enhanced $200
million per year prevention challenge block grant to the States. The
bill also reauthorizes the JJDPA Title II Part B State formula grants.
In doing so, it also reforms the current core mandates on the States
relating to the incarceration of juveniles to ensure the protection of
juveniles in custody while providing state and local governments with
needed flexibility.
This flexibility is particularly important to rural states, where
immediate access to a juvenile detention facility might be difficult.
Since many communities cannot afford separate juvenile and adult
facilities, law enforcement officers must drive hours to transport
juvenile offenders to the nearest facility, instead of patrolling the
streets. Another unintended consequence of JJDPA is the release of
juvenile offenders because no beds are available in juvenile facilities
or because law enforcement officials cannot afford to transport youths
to juvenile facilities. Juvenile criminals are released even though
space is available to detain them in adult facilities. Our reform will
provide the states with a degree of flexibility which currently does
not exist.
However, this flexibility is not provided at the expense of juvenile
inmate safety. The bill strictly prohibits placing juvenile offenders
in jail cells with adults. No one supports the placing of children in
cells with adult offenders. To be clear--nothing in the bill will
expose juveniles to any physical contact by adult offenders. Indeed,
the legislation is explicit that, if states are to qualify for federal
funds, they may not place juvenile delinquents in detention under
conditions in which the juvenile can have physical contact, much less
be physically harmed by, an adult inmate.
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These provisions are largely based on
H.R. 1818 from the 105th
Congress, but are improved to ensure that abuse of juvenile delinquent
inmates is not permitted by incorporating definitions of what
constitutes unacceptable contact between juvenile delinquents and adult
inmates.
Third, and finally, our reform of the JJDPA reauthorizes and
strengthens those other parts of the JJDPA that have proven effective.
For example, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and
the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act are reauthorized and funded. Gang
prevention programs are reauthorized. And important, successful
programs to provide mentoring for young people in trouble with the law
or at risk of getting into trouble with the law are reauthorized and
expanded. Operating through the Cooperative Extension Service program
sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, the University of Utah has
developed a ground-breaking and highly successful program that mentors
to entire families--pairing college age mentors with juveniles in
trouble or at risk of getting in trouble with the law, and pairing
senior citizen couples with the juvenile's parents and siblings. This
program gets great bang for the buck. So our bill provides
demonstration funds to expand this program and replicate its success in
other states.
Finally, our bill provides an important new program to encourage
state programs that provide accountability in their juvenile justice
systems. All or nearly all of our states have taken great strides in
reforming their systems, and it is time for the federal government's
programs to catch up and provide needed assistance.
Despite reforms in recent years, all too often, the juvenile justice
system ignores the minor crimes that lead to the increasingly frequent
serious and tragic juvenile crimes capturing headlines. Unfortunately,
many of these crimes might have been prevented had the warning signs of
early acts of delinquency or antisocial behavior been heeded. A
delinquent juvenile's critical first brush with the law is a vital
aspect of preventing future crimes, because it teaches an important
lesson--what behavior will be tolerated. Accountability is not just
about punishment--although punishment is frequently needed. It is about
teaching consequences and providing rehabilitation to youth offenders.
According to a recent Department of Justice study, juveniles
adjudicated for so-called index crimes--such as murder, rape, robbery,
assault, burglary, and auto theft--began their criminal careers at an
early age. The average age for a juvenile committing an index offense
is 14.5 years, and typically, by age 7, the future criminal is already
showing minor behavior problems. If we can intervene early enough,
however, we might avert future tragedies. Our bill provides a new
Juvenile Accountability Block Grant to reform federal policy that has
been complicit in the system's failure, and provide states with much
needed funding for a system of graduated sanctions, including community
service for minor crimes, electronically monitored home detention, boot
camps, and traditional detention for more serious offenses.
And let there be no mistake--detention is needed as well. Our first
priority should be to keep our communities safe. We simply have to
ensure that violent people are removed from our midst, no matter their
age. When a juvenile commits an act as heinous as the worst adult
crime, he or she is not a kid anymore, and we shouldn't treat them as
kids.
State receipt of the incentive grants would be conditioned on the
adoption of three core accountability policies: the establishment of
graduated sanctions to ensure appropriate correction of juvenile
offenders, drug testing juvenile offenders upon arrest in appropriate
cases; and recognition of victims rights and needs in the juvenile
justice system.
Meaningful reform also requires that a juvenile's criminal record
ought to be accessible to police, courts, and prosecution, so that we
can know who is a repeat or serious offender. Right now, these records
simply are not generally available in NCIC, the national system that
tracks adult criminal records. Thus, if a juvenile commits a string of
felony offenses, and no record is kept, the police, prosecutors, judges
or juries will never know what he did. Maybe for his next offense,
he'll get a light sentence or even probation, since it appears he's
committed only one felony in his life instead 10 or 15. Such a system
makes no sense, and it doesn't protect the public.
So the reform we offer in this bill also provides the first federal
incentives for the integration of serious juvenile criminal records
into the national criminal history database, together with federal
funding for the system.
Finally, we all recognize the value of education in preventing
juvenile crime and rehabilitating juvenile offenders. When trouble-
causing juveniles remain in regular classrooms, they frequently make it
difficult for all other students to learn. Yet, removing such juveniles
from the classroom without addressing their educational needs virtually
guarantees that they will fall further into the vortex of crime and
delinquency. The costs are high--to the juvenile, but also to victims
and to society. These juveniles too frequently become crime committing
adults, with all the costs that implies--costs to victims, and the cost
of incarcerating the offenders to protect the public. So our bill tries
to break this cycle, by providing a three-year $45 million
demonstration project to provide alternative education to juveniles in
trouble with or at risk of getting in trouble with the law.
The bill we introduce today authorizes significant funding for the
programs I have described. In all, our bill authorizes $1 billion per
year for 5 years, in the following categories: $450 million per year
for Juvenile Accountability Block Grants; $435 million per year for
prevention programs under the JJDPA, including $200 million for
Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Block Grants, $200 million for Part B
Formula grant prevention programs, and $35 million for Gangs, Mentoring
and Discretionary grant programs; $75 million per year for grants to
states to upgrade and enhance juvenile felony criminal record histories
and to make such records available within NCIC, the national criminal
history database used by law enforcement, the courts, and prosecutors;
and $40 million per year for NIJ research and evaluation of the
effectiveness of juvenile delinquency prevention programs.
Additionally, the bill authorizes $100 million per year for joint
Federal-State-local law enforcement task forces to address gang crime
in areas with high concentrations of gang activity. $75 million per
year of this funding is authorized for establishment and operation of
High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas, and the remaining $25
million per year is authorized for community-based prevention and
intervention for gang members and at-risk youth in gang areas.
And, finally, as I have already noted, the bill authorizes $45
million over 3 years for innovative alternative education programs to
make our schools safer places of learning while helping ensure that the
youth most at risk do not get left behind.
Lastly, Mr. President, let me address a provision in the bill which
will prohibit firearms possession by violent juvenile offenders. This
section extends the ban in current law on firearm ownership by certain
felons to certain juvenile offenders. Juveniles who are adjudicated
delinquent for an offense which would be a serious violent felony as
defined in 18 U.S.C. 3559(C)(2)(f)(i)--the federal three strikes
statute--were the offense committed by an adult will no longer be able
to legally own firearms. This is common sense. If tried and convicted
as adults, these criminals would automatically forfeit their right to
own a gun.
However, we should learn our lesson as well from the so-called
domestic violence gun ban enacted several years ago. If the offense
records that allow us to know who is covered by the ban are not
available, the law is hollow, or worse--it will be enforced only in
arbitrary cases. For this reason, the ban we propose is prospective
only, applying only to delinquent acts committed after records of such
offenses are routinely available within the National Instant Check
System instituted pursuant to the Brady Law.
We should also resist seeing this provision as any sort of panacea.
Laws banning criminals from owning firearms have not stopped them from
doing so, for a simple reason--criminals do not respect or obey the
law. So
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while this provision is an appropriate step, we should be under no
illusion that it is the answer to our juvenile crime problem.
Mr. President, I believe that we all agree that it is far better to
prevent the fabric of civility from being rent than to deal with the
aftermath of juvenile crime. In the face of a confounding problem like
juvenile crime, it is tempting to look for easy answers. I do not
believe that we should succumb to this temptation. We are faced, I
believe, with a problem which cannot be solved solely by the enactment
of new criminal prohibitions. It is at its core a moral problem.
Somehow, too frequently we have failed as a society to pass along to
the next generation the moral compass that differentiates right from
wrong. This cannot be legislated. It will not be restored by the
enactment of a new law or the implementation of a new program. But it
can be achieved by communities working together to teach accountability
by example and by early intervention when the signs clearly point to
violent and antisocial behavior.
Mr. President, that is what the bill we introduce is all about. It is
a comprehensive approach to this national problem. I believe that it
now is time for the Senate to act. I urge my colleagues to review this
legislation, to support it, and to support its early debate and passage
by the Senate.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a bill summary prepared
by the Judiciary Committee staff and an article by Patricia Cornwell be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
The Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and
Rehabilitation Act of 1999--Section-by-Section Analysis
Attached is a summary of the major provisions of S. , the
Hatch-Sessions Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender
Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 1999, as introduced
January 19, 1999.
Should you have any questions about the bill not answered
by this summary or the Committee Report, please call Mike
Kennedy or Rhett DeHart of the Senate Judiciary Committee
staff at (202) 224-5225.
general provisions
Sec. 1 Short Title, Table of Contents. This section
entitles the bill as the ``Violent and Repeat Juvenile
Offender Act of 1999'', and provides a table of contents for
the bill.
Sec. 2 Findings and Purpose. This section provides
Congressional findings related to juvenile crime, the
juvenile justice system, and the changes needed to reform the
juvenile justice system to curb youth violence, ensure
accountability by youthful criminals, improve federal
juvenile delinquency prevention efforts, and recognize the
needs of crime victims.
Sec. 3 Severability. This section provides severability
for the provisions of the Act.
title i--juvenile justice reform
This title reforms the procedures by which juveniles who
commit Federal crimes are prosecuted and punished.
Sec. 101 Repeal of General Provision. This section repeals
the provision establishing the general practice of
surrendering to State authorities juveniles arrested for the
commission of Federal offenses.
Sec. 102 Treatment of Federal Juvenile Offenders. General
Provisions: This section gives the U.S. Attorney the
discretion to prosecute juveniles age 14 years or older as
adults for violations of Federal law which are serious
violent felonies or serious drug offenses (as these terms are
defined in 18 U.S.C. 3559, the Federal 3-strike statute).
Juveniles 14 and older may be prosecuted as adults for any
other felony violation of Federal law only with the approval
of the Attorney General. If approval is not given, or, for
all misdemeanor violations of Federal law, juveniles would be
proceeded against as juveniles, or referred to State or
tribal authorities. Referral to state or tribal authorities
would be presumed in all cases of concurrent state and
federal jurisdiction, unless a state refused the case, or an
overriding federal interest existed. In the special case of
juveniles alleged to have committed a federal offense and who
have a prior occasion been tried and convicted as an adult in
federal court, waiver to adult status would be automatic.
Reverse Waiver Provision: Juveniles 15 and younger charged
as an adult for serious violent felonies or serious drug
offenses, and juveniles of any age charged as an adult for
other felonies, may appeal their waiver to adult status. The
juvenile would have 20 days to seek a judicial order
returning the juvenile to juvenile status. The prosecutor
would be permitted in interlocutory appeal from an adverse
ruling, but a juvenile's appeal would be consolidated at the
end of the case.
Application to Indian Tribes: This section also includes a
limited tribal opt-in for Native American juveniles 15 and
under when federal jurisdiction is based solely on the
commission of the offense on tribal land. A tribal opt-in to
federal procedures would be required to prosecute these
juveniles as adults, although they could still be adjudicated
in federal delinquency proceedings, even in the absence of a
tribal opt-in.
Procedures: When prosecuted as adults, juveniles in Federal
criminal cases would be subject to the same procedures and
penalties as adults, including availability of records, open
proceedings, and sentencing procedures. Exceptions are
provided waiving the application of mandatory minimums to
juveniles under age 16 who have no previous serious violent
felony or serious drug offense convictions, and barring the
availability of the death penalty in any offense committed
before the juvenile was 18.
This section also provides that juveniles tried as adults
and sentenced to prison must serve their entire sentences,
and may not be released on the basis of attaining their
majority, and applies to juveniles convicted as adults the
same provisions of victim restitution, including mandatory
restitution, that apply to adults.
Sec. 103 Definitions. This section provides definitions
for terms used, including new definitions to ensure that
juveniles accused or convicted of Federal offenses are
separated from adults and to conform the definition of the
term ``juvenile'' with the procedural changes made by this
title.
Sec. 104 Notification after Arrest. This section conforms
the requirement, in 18 U.S.C. 5033, that certain persons be
notified of the arrest of a juvenile for a Federal crime,
with the procedural changes in section 102 of this subtitle,
which vests discretion to prosecute juveniles as adults with
the U.S. Attorney for the district in the appropriate
jurisdiction. This section also provides for the notification
of the juveniles' parents or guardians, and prohibits the
post-arrest housing of juveniles with adults.
Sec. 105 Release and Detention Prior to Disposition. This
section provides for pretrial detention juveniles tried as
adults on the same basis as adults, and prohibits the
pretrial or pre-disposition detention of juveniles with
adults.
Sec. 106 Speedy Trial. This section extends, from 30 to 70
days, the time in which the trial of a juvenile in detention
must be commenced, and applies in juvenile cases the same
tolling provisions for such time period that apply in adult
prosecutions.
Sec. 107 Dispositional Hearings. This section provides for
the sentencing of that juveniles found to be delinquent, but
not tried as adults. It provides for a hearing on the matter
within 40 days of an adjudication of delinquency, and
provides for victim allocution at the hearing. The section
provides a range of sentencing options to the court,
including probation, fines, restitution, and/or imprisonment,
and provides that terms of imprisonment may be imposed upon
them for the same term as adults, except that such
imprisonment must be terminated on the juvenile's 26th
birthday. Juveniles sentenced to imprisonment may not be
released solely on the basis of attaining their majority.
Sec. 108 Use of Juvenile Records. This section provides
that the federal criminal records of juveniles tried as
adults, and the federal delinquency records of juveniles
adjudicated delinquent for certain serious offenses such as
murder, rape, armed robbery, and sexual abuse or assault, are
to be treated for all purposes in the same manner as the
records of adults for the same offenses. Other federal felony
juvenile criminal or delinquency records would be treated the
same as adult records for criminal justice or national
security background check purposes.
This section also permits juvenile federal felony juvenile
criminal and delinquency records to be provided to schools
and colleges under rules issued by the Attorney General,
provided that recipients of the records are held to privacy
standards and that the records not be used to determine
admission.
Sec. 109 Implementation of a Sentence for Juvenile
Offenders. This section provides for the implementation of a
sentence on a delinquent or criminal juvenile and directs the
Bureau of Prisons to not confine juveniles in any institution
where the juvenile would not be separated from adult inmates.
Sec. 110 Magistrate Judge Authority Regarding Juvenile
Defendants. This section extends the jurisdiction of Federal
magistrate judges to class A misdemeanors involving
juveniles; permits magistrate judges to impose terms of
imprisonment on juveniles, and conforms the section
conferring authority on magistrate judges with the procedural
changes made by section 102.
Sec. 111 Federal Sentencing Guidelines. This section
conforms the Sentencing Reform Act to ensure that the Federal
Sentencing Guidelines relating to maximum penalties for
violent crimes and serious drug crimes apply to juveniles
tried as adults.
This section also amends the Sentencing Reform Act to
direct the Sentencing Commission to promulgate sentencing
guidelines for sentencing juveniles tried as adults in
Federal court, and for dispositional hearings (the equivalent
of sentencing) for juveniles adjudicated delinquent in the
Federal system.
Sec. 112 Study and Report on Indian Tribal Jurisdiction.
This section requires the Attorney General to study and
report to the Congress on the capabilities of tribal courts
and criminal justice systems relating to the prosecution of
juvenile criminals under tribal jurisdiction, and requires
the Attorney General to evaluate an expansion of tribal court
criminal jurisdiction.
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title ii--juvenile gangs
Sec. 201 Solicitation or Recruitment of Persons in
Criminal Gang Activity. This section makes the recruitment or
solicitation of persons to participate in gang activity
subject to a one-year minimum and 10-year maximum penalty, or
a fine of up to $250,000. If a minor is recruited or
solicited, the minimum penalty is increased to four years. In
addition, a person convicted of this crime would have to pay
the costs of housing, maintaining, and treating the juvenile
until the juvenile reaches the age of 18 years.
Sec. 202 Increased Penalties for Using Minors to
Distribute Drugs. This section increases the penalties for
using minors to distribute controlled substances.
Sec. 203 Penalties for Use of Minors in Crimes of
Violence. This section increases twofold, and for a second or
subsequent offense threefold, the penalties for using minors
in the commission of a crime of violence.
Sec. 204 Amendment of Sentencing Guidelines With Respect
to Body Armor. This section directs the United States
Sentencing Commission to provide a minimum two level
sentencing enhancement for any defendant committing a Federal
crime while wearing body armor.
Sec. 205 High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas.
This section authorizes the Attorney General to establish
joint agency task forces to address gang crime in areas with
high concentrations of gang activity. This provision
authorizes $100 million per year for this program; $75
million per year is authorized for establishment and
operation of High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas,
and $25 million per year is authorized for community-based
gang prevention and intervention for gang members and at-risk
youth in gang areas.
Sec. 206 Increasing the Penalty for Using Physical Force
to Tamper With Witnesses, Victims, or Informants. This
section increases the penalty from a maximum of 10 years'
imprisonment to a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment for using
or threatening physical force against any person with intent
to tamper with a witness, victim, or informant. This section
also adds a conspiracy penalty for obstruction of justice
offenses involving victims, witnesses, and informants. In
addition, this section makes traveling in interstate or
foreign commerce to bribe, threaten or intimidate a witness
to delay or influence testimony in a State criminal
proceeding a violation of the Federal Travel Act, 18 U.S.C.
Section 1952.
title iii--juvenile crime control, accountability, and delinquency
prevention
This title reforms and enhances federal assistance to State
and local juvenile crime control and delinquency prevention
programs. Subtitle A amends and reauthorizes the Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA), to
provide assistance to States for effective youth crime
control and accountability.
Sec. 301 Findings; Declaration of Purpose; Definitions.
This section rewrites Title I of the JJDPA. It updates and
revises the Congressional findings and declaration of purpose
contained in the JJDPA to reflect the reality of violent
juvenile crime, promote the primacy of accountability in the
juvenile justice system, and recognize the rights and needs
of victims of juvenile crime. This section also revises and
updates the definitions governing the JJDPA.
Sec. 302 Juvenile Crime Control and Delinquency
Prevention. This section rewrites Title II of the JJDPA. It
reforms and renames the current Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention within the Department of Justice,
improves services to State and local governments, and reforms
and streamlines existing JJDPA grant programs. Among the
specific provisions of the rewritten JJDPA Title II:
Reforms JJDPA Title II Part A--the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of the Department
of Justice, is renamed the Office of Juvenile Crime Control
and Prevention (OJCCP), with an Administrator appointed by
the President and confirmed by the Senate. This section also
enhances the effectiveness of the OJCCP by requiring the
OJCCP Administrator to: present to Congress annual plans,
with measurable goals, to control and prevent youth crime;
coordinate all Federal programs relating to controlling and
preventing youth crime; disseminate to States and local
governments data on the prevention, correction and control of
juvenile crime and delinquency, and report on successful
programs and methods; and serve as a single point of contact
for States, localities, and private entities to apply for and
coordinate all federal assistance and programs related to
juvenile crime control and delinquency prevention.
Consolidates numerous JJDPA programs, including Part C
Special Emphasis grants, State challenge grants, boot camps,
and JJDPA Title V incentive grants, under an enhanced
prevention challenge block grant to the States.
Reauthorizes the State formula grants under Part B of Title
II of the JJDPA:
Reforms the 3 current ``core mandates'' on the States
relating to the incarceration of juveniles (known as sight
and sound separation, jail removal, and status offender
mandates,) to ensure the protection of juveniles in custody
while providing state and local governments with needed
flexibility; provisions are based on
H.R. 1818 from the 105th
Congress, but to ensure that abuse of juvenile delinquent
inmates is not permitted, includes modified definitions from
the 105th Congress
S. 10 regarding what constitutes contact
between juveniles and adults--no prohibited physical contact
or sustained oral communication would permitted between
juveniles delinquents in detention and adult inmates;
Modifies the current ``core mandate'' requiring states to
address efforts to reduce the disproportionate number of
minorities in juvenile detention in comparison with their
proportion to the population at large, to make the language
race-neutral and constitutional;
The four ``core mandates'' retained in modified form are
each enforceable by a 12.5 percent reduction in a State's
Part B funding for non-compliance. The Administrator may
waive the penalty.
Revises JJDPA Title II Part C, to enhance federal research
efforts into successful juvenile crime control and
delinquency prevention programs; reauthorizes JJDPA Title II
Part D Gang prevention programs, and reforms the program to
provide an emphasis on the disruption and prosecution of
gangs; includes a discretionary prevention grant program
designated as Part E of Title II of the JJDPA; retains the
current Part G Mentoring program under Title II of the JJDPA,
redesignating it as Part F, and adding a pilot program to
encourage and develop mentoring programs that focus on the
entire family instead of simply the juvenile and which
utilize the existing resources and infrastructure of the
Cooperative Extension Services of Land Grant Universities;
and designates JJDPA Title II Part G for administrative
provisions, including: providing rules against use of federal
funds for behavior control experimentation, lobbying, or
litigation; subjecting JJDPA and Juvenile Accountability
Block Grants (in Title III, Subtitle B of this bill) to a
religious and charitable non-discrimination provision cross-
referenced from the welfare reform law; providing significant
funding directly from the Department of Justice for juvenile
delinquency prevention and juvenile accountability programs
in Indian country; and providing authorizations of
appropriations for the JJDPA and the Juvenile Accountability
Block Grants, as follows:
Authorizes $1 billion per year for five years, under the
following formula: $450 million (45%) for Juvenile
Accountability Block Grants; $435 million (43.5%) for
prevention programs under the JJDPA, including $200 million
for Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Block Grants, $200
million for Part B Formula grant prevention programs, and $35
million for Gangs, Mentoring and Discretionary grant
programs; $75 million (7.5%) for grants to states to upgrade
and enhance juvenile felony criminal record histories and to
make such records available within NCIC, the national
criminal history database used by law enforcement, the
courts, and prosecutors; and $40 million (4%) for NIJ
research and evaluation of the effectiveness of juvenile
delinquency prevention programs.
Sec. 303 Runaway and Homeless Youth. This section reforms
the Runaway and Homeless Youth program, and reauthorizes it
through FY 2004. The reforms steamline the program, provide
for targeting federal assistance to areas with the greatest
need, and make numerous technical changes.
Sec. 304 National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children. This section improves and reauthorizes the Missing
and Exploited Children program through FY 2004, providing on-
going authorization for grants to the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children.
Sec 305. Transfer of Functions and Savings Provisions.
This section provides technical and administrative rules to
transfer functions, and to govern the transition from the
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to
the Office of Juvenile Crime Control and Prevention.
Subtitle B Accountability for Juvenile Offenders and Public Protection
Incentive Grants
Sec. 321 Block Grant Program. Accountability Block Grant:
This section establishes an incentive block grant program for
States, authorized at $450 million for each of the next five
fiscal years, as well as a separate $50 million per year
grant program for the upgrade and enhancement of juvenile
criminal records. The incentive block grants would fund a
variety of programs, such as constructing juvenile offender
detention facilities, implementing graduated sanctions
programs; fingerprinting or conducting DNA tests on juvenile
offenders; establishing record-keeping ability; establishing
SHOCAP programs; enforcing truancy laws; and various
prevention programs including after-school youth activities,
antigang initiatives, literacy programs, and job training
programs. Indian tribes receive separate grants under this
section.
State receipt of the incentive grants would be conditioned
on the adoption of three core accountability policies: the
establishment of graduated sanctions to ensure appropriate
correction of juvenile offenders, drug testing juvenile
offenders upon arrest in appropriate cases; and recognition
of victims rights and needs in the juvenile justice system.
Fifty percent of the funds under the grant program are
designated for implementing graduated sanctions or increasing
juvenile detention space if needed by the State. Federal the
remaining fifty percent can be used for any authorized grant
purpose. Detention space construction projects must be funded
by not less than fifty percent State or local (i.e.,
nonfederal grant) money.
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The block grant includes a pass-through requirement
intended to provide a formula for local funding that reflects
the needs and responsibilities of state and local levels of
government. Seventy percent of the funds received by the
State under this block grant must be passed through to the
local level, unless the state organizes its juvenile justice
system exclusively on the State level.
Juvenile Records Grants: Criminal and juvenile record
improvement grants for the States are authorized to encourage
states to treat the records of juveniles who commit and are
adjudicated delinquent for the felonies of murder, armed
robbery, and sexual assault be treated the same as adult
criminal records for the same offenses in the state, and to
treat records of juveniles who commit any other felony be
treated, for criminal justice purposes only, the same as
adult criminal records for the same offenses. Such records
would be available interstate within the NCIC system.
Sec. 322 Pilot Program to Promote Replication of Recent
Successful Juvenile Crime Reduction Strategies. This section
authorizes the Attorney General to fund pilot programs to
replicate the successful juvenile crime reduction program
utilized by Boston, Massachusetts. Pilot program grant
recipients would adopt a juvenile crime reduction strategy
involving close collaboration among Federal, State, and local
law enforcement authorities, and including religious
affiliated or fraternal organizations, school officials,
social service agencies, and parent or local grass roots
organizations. Emphasis would be placed on initiating
effective crime prevention programs and tracing firearms
seized from crime scenes or offenders in an effort to
identify illegal gun traffickers who are supplying weapons to
gangs and other criminal enterprises
Sec. 323 Repeal of Unnecessary and Duplicative Programs.
This section repeals duplicative and wasteful programs
enacted as a part of the 1994 crime law, including the Ounce
of Prevention Council, the Model Intensive Grant program, the
Local Partnership Act, the National Community Economic
Partnership, the Urban Recreation and At-Risk Youth Program,
and the Family Unity Demonstration Project.
Sec. 324 Extension of Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund.
This section extends the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund,
established in the 1994 omnibus crime law, to fund programs
authorized by this act.
Sec. 325 Reimbursement of States for the Costs of
Incarcerating Juvenile Aliens. This section adds juvenile
aliens to the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which
provides reimbursement to the States for the costs of
incarcerating criminal aliens.
Sec. 326 Sense of Congress. This section provides the
sense of Congress that States should enact legislation to
provide that if an offense that would be a capital offense if
committed by an adult is committed by a juvenile between the
ages of 10 and 14, the juvenile could, with judicial
approval, be tried and punished as an adult, provided the
death penalty would not be available in such cases.
Subtitle C--Alternative Education and Delinquency Prevention
Sec. 331 Alternative Education. This section amends the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to provide
demonstration grants to state and local education agencies
for alternative education in appropriate settings for
disruptive or delinquent students, to improve the academic
and social performance of these students and to improve the
safety and learning environment of regular classrooms.
Certain matching amounts required under this program could
be made from amounts available to the State or local
governments under the JJDPA. Appropriations under the ESEA
of $15 million per year for four years are authorized.
Title IV--Miscellaneous Provisions
Subtitle A--General Provisions
Sec. 401 Prohibition on Firearms Possession by Violent
Juvenile Offenders. This section extends the ban on firearm
ownership by certain felons to persons who, as juveniles, are
adjudicated delinquent for an offense which would be a
serious violent felony as defined in 18 U.S.C.
3559(c)(2)(F)(i) (the federal three strikes statute), were
the offense committed by an adult. The ban is prospective,
applying only to delinquent acts committed after records of
such offenses are routinely available within the National
Instant Check System instituted pursuant to the Brady Law.
Subtitle B--Jail-Based Substance Abuse
Sec. 421 Jail-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Program.
This section provides that 10 percent of grants to States for
drug treatment in prisons (RSAT grants) should be directed to
qualified treatment programs in jails; under current law,
these funds are limited to prison treatment. This section
also allows RSAT grants to be used to provide post-
incarceration substance abuse treatment for former inmates if
the Governor certifies to the U.S. Attorney General that the
State is providing, and will continue to provide, an adequate
level of treatment services to incarcerated inmates.
____
When the Fabric Is Rent
(By Patricia Cornwell)
There was a saying in the morgue during those long six
years I worked there. When a person is touched by violence,
the fabric of civility is forever rent, or ripped or
breached, whatever word is most graphic to you.
Our country is the most violent one in the free world, and
as far as I'm concerned, we are becoming increasingly
incompetent in preventing and prosecuting cruel crimes that
we foolishly think happen only to others. There was another
saying in the morgue. The one thing every dead person had in
common in that place was he never thought he'd end up there.
He never imagined his name would be penned in black ink in
the big black book that is ominously omnipresent on a counter
top in the autopsy suite.
I have seen hundreds, maybe close to a thousand dead bodies
by now, many of them ruined by another person's hands. I
return to the morgue at least two or three times a year to
painfully remind myself that what I'm writing about is awful
and final and real.
I suffer from nightmares and don't remember the last time I
had a pleasant dream. I have very strong emotional responses
to crimes that have nothing to do with me, such as Versace's
murder, and more recently, the random shooting deaths of
Capitol Police Agent John Gibson and Officer Jacob Chestnut.
I can't read sad, scary or violent books. I watched only half
of ``Titanic'' because I could not bear its sadness. I
stormed out of Ann Rice's ``Interview With A Vampire,'' so
furious my hands were shaking because the movie is such an
outrageous trivialization and celebration of sexual violence.
For me the suffering, the blood, the deaths are real.
I'd like to confront Ann Rice with bitemarks and other
sadistic wounds that are not special effects. I'd like to
sentence Oliver Stone to a month in the morgue, make him sit
in the cooler for a while and see what an audience of victims
has to say about his films. I'd like O.J. Simpson to have
total recall and suffer, go broke, be ostracized, never be
allowed on a golf course again. I was in a pub in London when
that verdict was read. I'll never forget the amazed faces of
a suddenly mute group of beer-drinking Brits, or the shame my
friends and I felt because in America it is absolutely true.
Justice is blind.
Justice has stumbled off the road of truth and fallen
headlong into a thicket of subjective verdicts where evidence
doesn't count and plea bargains that are such a bargain they
are fire sales. I've begun to fear that the consequences and
punishment of violent crime have become some sort of mindless
multiple choice, a ``Let's Make A Deal,'' a ``Let's microwave
the popcorn and watch Court TV.''
I have been asked to tell you what my fictional character
Dr. Scarpetta would do if she were the crime czar or
Virginia, of America. Since she and I share the same opinions
and views, I am stepping out from behind my curtain of
imagined deeds and characters and telling you what I feel and
think.
It startles me to realize that at age 42, I have spent
almost half my life studying crime, of living and working in
it's pitifully cold, smelly, ugly environment. I am often
asked why people cheat, rob, stalk, slander, maim and murder.
How can anybody enjoy causing another human being or any
living creature destruction and pain? I will tell you in
three words: Abuse of power. Everything in life is about the
power we appropriate for good or destruction, and the
ultimate overpowering of a life is to make it suffer and end.
This includes children who put on camouflage and get into
the family guns. We don't want to believe that 12, 13, 16
year old youths are unredeemable. Most of them aren't. But
it's time we face that some of them have transgressed beyond
forgiveness, certainly beyond trust. Not all victims I have
seen pass through the morgue were savaged by adults. The
creative cruelty of some young killers is the worst of the
worst, images of what they did to their victims ones I wish I
could delete.
About a year ago, I began researching juvenile crime for
the follow-up of ``Hornet's Next'' (Southern Cross, January,
'99) and my tenth Scarpetta book (unfinished and untitled
yet). This was a territory I had yet to explore. I was
inspired by the depressing fact that in the last ten years,
shootings, hold-ups at ATM's, and premeditated murders
committed by juveniles have risen 160 percent. As I ventured
into my eleventh and twelfth novels, I wondered what my
crusading characters would do with violent children.
So I spent months in Raleigh watching members of the
Governor's Commission on Juvenile Crime and Justice debate
and rewrite their juvenile crime laws, as Virginia did in
1995 under the leadership of Jim Gilmore. I quizzed Senator
Orrin Hatch about his youth violence bill,
S. 10, a federal
approach to reforming a juvenile justice system that is
failing our society. I toured detention homes in Richmond and
elsewhere. I sat in on juvenile court cases and talked to
inmates who were juveniles when they began their lives of
crime.
While it is true that many violent juveniles have abuse,
neglect, and the absence of values in their homes, I maintain
my belief that all people should be held accountable for
their actions. Our first priority should be to keep our
communities safe. We must remove violent people from our
midst, no matter their age. As Marcia Morey, executive
director of North Carolina's juvenile crime commission,
constantly preaches, ``We must stop the hemorrhage
first.''
When the trigger is pulled, when the knife is plunged, kids
aren't kids anymore. We should not shield and give excuses
and probation to violent juveniles who, odds are, will harm
or kill again if they are returned to our neighborhoods and
schools. We should
[[Page
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not treat young violent offenders with sealed lips and
exclusive proceedings.
``The secrecy and confidentiality of our system have hurt
us,'' says Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District
Court Judge Kimberly O'Donnell. ``What people can't see and
hear is often difficult for them to understand.''
Virginia has opened its courtrooms to the public, and Judge
O'Donnell encourages people to sit in hers and see for
themselves those juveniles who are remorseless and those who
can be saved. Most juveniles who end up in court are not
repeat offenders. But for that small number who threaten us
most, I advocate hard, non-negotiable judgment. Most of what
I would like to see is already being done in Virginia. But we
need juvenile justice reform nationally, a system that is
sensible and consistent from state to state.
As it is now, if a juvenile commits a felony in Virginia,
when he turns 18 his record is not expunged and will follow
him for the rest of his days. But were he to commit the same
felony in North Carolina, at 16 he'll be released from a
correctional facility with no record of any crime he
committed in that state. Let's say he's back on the street
and returns to Virginia. Now he's a juvenile again, and
police, prosecutors, judges or juries will never know what he
did in North Carolina.
If he moves to yet another state where the legal age is 21,
he can commit felonies for three or four more years and have
no record of them, either. Maybe by then he's committed
fifteen felonies but is only credited with the one he
committed in Virginia. Maybe when he becomes an adult and is
violent again, he gets a light sentence or even probation,
since it appears he's committed only one felony in his life
instead of fifteen. He'll be back among us soon enough. Maybe
his next victim will be you.
If national juvenile justice reform were up to me, I'd be
strict. I would not be popular with extreme child advocates.
If I had my way, it would be routine that when any juvenile
commits a violent crime, his name and personal life are
publicized. Records of juveniles who commit felonies should
not be expunged when the individual becomes an adult. Mug
shots, fingerprints and the DNA of violent juveniles should,
at the very least, be available to police, prosecutors, and
schools, and if they young violent offender has an extensive
record and commits another crime, plea bargaining should be
limited or at least informed.
Juveniles who rape, murder or commit other heinous acts
should be tried as adults, but judges should have the
discretionary power to decide when this is merited. I want to
see more court-ordered restitution and mediation. Let's turn
off the TV's in correctional centers and force assailants,
robbers, thieves to work to pay back what they've destroyed
and taken, as much as that is possible. Confront them with
their victims, face to face. Perhaps a juvenile might realize
the awful deed he's done if his victim is suddenly a person
with feelings, loved ones, scars, a name.
Prevention is a more popular word than punishment. But the
solution to what's happening in our society, particularly to
our youths, is simpler and infinitely harder than any
federally or privately funded program. All of us live
in neighborhoods. Unless you are in solitary confinement
or a coma, you are aware of others around you. Quite
likely you are exposed to children who are sad, lost,
ignored, neglected or abused. Try to help. Do it in
person.
I remember my first few years in Richmond when I was living
at Union Theological Seminary, where my former husband was a
student and I was a struggling, somewhat failed writer.
Charlie and I spent five years in a seminary apartment
complex where there was a little boy who enjoyed throwing a
tennis ball against the building in a staccato that was
torture to me.
I was working on novels nobody wanted and every time that
ball thunked against brick, I lost my train of thought. I'd
popped out of my chair and fly outside to order the kid to
stop, but somehow he was always gone without a trace, silence
restored for an hour or two. One day I caught him. I was
about to reprimand him when I saw the fear and loneliness in
his eyes.
``What's your name?'' I asked.
``Eddie,'' he said.
``How old are you?''
``Ten.''
``It's not a good idea to throw a ball against the
building. It makes it hard for some of us to work.''
``I know.'' He shrugged.
``If you know, then why do you do it?''
``Because I have no one to play catch with me,'' he
replied.
My memory lit up with acts of kindness when I was a lonely
child living in the small town of Montreat, North Carolina.
Adult neighbors had taken time to play tennis with me. They
had invited me, the only girl in town, to play baseball or
touch football with the bo
Major Actions:
All articles in Senate section
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
(Senate - January 20, 1999)
Text of this article available as:
TXT
PDF
[Pages
S750-S799]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Thurmond, Mr.
Abraham, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Ashcroft):
S. 254. A bill to reduce violent juvenile crime, promote
accountability by rehabilitation of juvenile criminals, punish and
deter violent gang crime, and for other purposes; read the first time.
VIOLENT AND REPEAT JUVENILE OFFENDER ACCOUNTABILITY AND REHABILITATION
ACT OF 1999
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I am proud today to introduce the Violent
and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of
1999. I am pleased to be joined by Senator Sessions, the distinguished
chairman of the Youth Violence Subcommittee, as well as Senator DeWine.
There are few issues that will come before the Senate this year that
touch the lives of more of our fellow Americans than our national
response to juvenile crime. Crime and delinquency among juveniles is a
problem that troubles us in our neighborhoods, schools and parks. It is
the subject across the dinner table, and in those late night, worried
conversations all parents have had at one time or another. The subject
is familiar--how can we prevent our children from falling victim--
either to crime committed by another juvenile, or to the lure of drugs,
crime, and gangs.
Their concerns should be our concerns. The sad reality is that we can
no longer sit silently by as children kill children, as teenagers
commit truly heinous offenses, as our juvenile drug abuse rate
continues to climb. In 1997, juveniles accounted for nearly one fifth--
18.7 percent--of all criminal arrests in the United States. Persons
under 18 committed 13.5 percent of all murders, over 17 percent of all
rapes, nearly 30 percent of all robberies, and 50 percent of all
arsons.
In 1997, 183 juveniles under 15 were arrested for murder. Juveniles
under 15 were responsible for 6.5 percent of all rapes, 14 percent of
all burglaries, and one third of all arsons. And, unbelievably,
juveniles under 15--who are not old enough to legally drive in any
state--in 1997 were responsible for 10.3 percent of all auto thefts.
To put this in some context, consider this: in 1997, youngsters age
15 to 19, who are only 7 percent of the population, committed 22.2
percent of all crimes, 21.4 percent of violent crimes, and 32 percent
of property crimes.
And although there are endless statistics on our growing juvenile
crime problem, one particularly sobering fact is that, between 1985 and
1993, the number of murder cases involving 15-year olds increased 207
percent. We have kids involved in murder before they can even drive.
Even my state of Utah has not been immune from these trends. Indeed,
a 1997 study by Brigham Young University Professor Richard Johnson
found that Utah's juvenile arrest rate is the highest in the nation.
Additionally, as an indication of the increasingly serious nature of
juvenile offenses in Utah, between 1990 and 1996 the number of
juveniles sentenced to youth corrections increased 142 percent, and the
number of juveniles requiring detention in a secure facility more than
doubled. And in 1995, the average Utah juvenile offender had
accumulated an astonishing average of 23 misdemeanors, 8 felony
convictions, and 2.4 status offense convictions before being sentenced
to a secure youth facility.
In short, our juvenile crime problem has taken a new and sinister
direction. But cold statistics alone cannot tell the whole story. Crime
has real effects on the lives of real people. Last fall, I read an
article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch by my good friend, crime
novelist Patricia Cornwell. It is one of the finest pieces I have read
on the effects of and solutions to our juvenile crime problem.
Let me share with my colleagues some of what Ms. Cornwell, who has
spent the better part of her adult life studying and observing crime
and its effects, has to say. She says ``when a person is touched by
violence, the fabric of civility is forever rent, or ripped, or
breached . . .'' This is a graphic but accurate description. Countless
lives can be ruined by a single violent crime. There is, of course, the
victim, who may be dead, or scarred for life. There are the family and
friends of the victim, who are traumatized as well, and who must live
with the loss of a loved one. Society itself is harmed, when each of us
is a little more frightened to walk on our streets at night, to use an
ATM, or to jog or bike in our parks. And, yes, there is the offender
who has chosen to throw his or her life away. Particularly when the
offender is a juvenile, family, friends, and society are made poorer
for the waste of potential in every human being. One crime, but
permanent effects when ``the fabric of civility is rent.''
This is the reality that has driven me to work for the last three
years to address this issue. In this effort, I have been joined by a
bipartisan majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which last
Congress reported comprehensive legislation on a bipartisan,
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two to one vote. Indeed, among members of the Youth Violence
Subcommittee, the vote was seven to two in favor of the bill.
The Judiciary Committee's legislation last Congress would have
fundamentally reformed the role played by the federal government in
addressing juvenile crime in our Nation. It was supported by law
enforcement organizations such as the Fraternal Order of Police, the
National Sheriffs Association, and the National Troopers Coalition, as
well as the support of juvenile justice practitioners such as the
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and victim's
groups including the National Victims Center and the National
Organization for Victims Assistance.
The bill we introduce today builds on those efforts. Our reform
proposal includes the best of what we know works. It combines tough
measures to protect the public from the worst juvenile criminals, smart
measures to provide intervention and correction at the earliest acts of
delinquency, and compassionate measures to rehabilitate juvenile
offenders and to supplement and enhance extensive existing prevention
programs to keep juveniles out of the cycle of crime, violence, drugs,
and gangs.
Mr. President, let me spell out in great detail the provisions of
this bill, and how it will help reform the juvenile justice system that
is failing the victims of juvenile crime, failing too many of our young
people, and ultimately, failing to protect the public.
First, this bill reforms and streamlines the federal juvenile code,
to responsibly address the handful of cases each year involving
juveniles who commit crimes under federal jurisdiction. Our bill sets a
uniform age of 14 for the permissive transfer of juvenile defendants to
adult court, permits prosecutors and the Attorney General to make the
decision whether to charge a juvenile offender as an adult, and permits
in certain circumstances juveniles charged as an adult to petition the
court to be returned to juvenile status.
It also provides that when prosecuted as adults, juveniles in Federal
criminal cases will be subject to the same procedures and penalties as
adults, except for the application of mandatory minimums in most cases.
Of course, the death penalty would not be available as punishment for
any offense committed before the juvenile was 18.
The bill similarly provides that juveniles tried as adults and
sentenced to prison must serve their entire sentences, and may not be
released on the basis of attaining their majority, and applies to
juveniles convicted as adults the same provisions of victim
restitution, including mandatory restitution, that apply to adults.
Finally, in reforming the federal system, I believe that we must lead
by example. So our bill provides that the federal criminal records of
juveniles tried as adults, and the federal delinquency records of
juveniles adjudicated delinquent for certain serious offenses such as
murder, rape, armed robbery, and sexual abuse or assault, will be
treated for all purposes in the same manner as the records of adults
for the same offenses. Other federal felony juvenile criminal or
delinquency records would be treated the same as adult records for
criminal justice or national security background check purposes.
The bill also permits juvenile federal felony criminal and
delinquency records to be provided to schools and colleges under rules
issued by the Attorney General, provided that recipients of the records
are held to privacy standards and that the records not be used to
determine admission.
Let me assure any who may be concerned that it is not our intent in
reforming the federal juvenile code to federalize juvenile crime--
indeed, no conduct that is not a federal crime now will be if this
reform is enacted. I do not intend or expect a substantial increase in
the number of juvenile cases adjudicated or prosecuted in federal
court. It is our intent, rather, to ensure that when there is a federal
crime warranting the federal prosecution of a juvenile, the federal
government assumes its responsibility to deal with it, rather than
saddling the states with that burden.
Second, at the heart of this bill is an historic reform and
reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
of 1974, the most comprehensive review of that legislation in 25 years.
The States for several years have been far ahead of the Federal
Government in implementing innovative reforms of their juvenile justice
systems. For example, between 1992 and 1996, of the 50 States and the
District of Columbia, 48 made substantive changes to their juvenile
justice systems. Among the trends in State law changes are the removal
of more serious and violent offenders from the juvenile justice system,
in favor of criminal court prosecution; new and innovative disposition/
sentencing options for juveniles; and the revision, in favor of
openness, of traditional confidentiality provisions relating to
juvenile proceedings and records.
While the States have been making fundamental changes in their
approaches to juvenile justice, however, the Federal Government has
made no significant change to its approach and has done little to
encourage State and local reform. Thus, the juvenile justice terrain
has shifted beneath the Federal Government, leaving its programs and
policies out of step and largely irrelevant to the needs of State and
local governments. This bill corrects this imbalance between State and
Federal juvenile justice policy, and will help ensure that federal
programs support the needs of State and local governments.
First, our bill reforms and strengthens the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of the Department of
Justice. The effectiveness of the OJJDP will be enhanced by requiring
its Administrator to present to Congress annual plans, with measurable
goals, to control and prevent youth crime, coordinate all Federal
programs relating to controlling and preventing youth crime, and
disseminate to States and local governments data on the prevention,
correction and control of juvenile crime and delinquency, and report on
successful programs and methods.
And, most important to state and local governments, in the future,
OJJDP will serve as a single point of contact for States, localities,
and private entities to apply for and coordinate all federal assistance
and programs related to juvenile crime control and delinquency
prevention. This one-stop-shopping for federal programs and assistance
will help state and local governments focus on the problem, instead of
on how to navigate the federal bureaucracy.
Second, our reform bill consolidates numerous JJDPA programs,
including Part C Special Emphasis grants, State challenge grants, boot
camps, and JJDPA Title V incentive grants, under an enhanced $200
million per year prevention challenge block grant to the States. The
bill also reauthorizes the JJDPA Title II Part B State formula grants.
In doing so, it also reforms the current core mandates on the States
relating to the incarceration of juveniles to ensure the protection of
juveniles in custody while providing state and local governments with
needed flexibility.
This flexibility is particularly important to rural states, where
immediate access to a juvenile detention facility might be difficult.
Since many communities cannot afford separate juvenile and adult
facilities, law enforcement officers must drive hours to transport
juvenile offenders to the nearest facility, instead of patrolling the
streets. Another unintended consequence of JJDPA is the release of
juvenile offenders because no beds are available in juvenile facilities
or because law enforcement officials cannot afford to transport youths
to juvenile facilities. Juvenile criminals are released even though
space is available to detain them in adult facilities. Our reform will
provide the states with a degree of flexibility which currently does
not exist.
However, this flexibility is not provided at the expense of juvenile
inmate safety. The bill strictly prohibits placing juvenile offenders
in jail cells with adults. No one supports the placing of children in
cells with adult offenders. To be clear--nothing in the bill will
expose juveniles to any physical contact by adult offenders. Indeed,
the legislation is explicit that, if states are to qualify for federal
funds, they may not place juvenile delinquents in detention under
conditions in which the juvenile can have physical contact, much less
be physically harmed by, an adult inmate.
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These provisions are largely based on
H.R. 1818 from the 105th
Congress, but are improved to ensure that abuse of juvenile delinquent
inmates is not permitted by incorporating definitions of what
constitutes unacceptable contact between juvenile delinquents and adult
inmates.
Third, and finally, our reform of the JJDPA reauthorizes and
strengthens those other parts of the JJDPA that have proven effective.
For example, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and
the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act are reauthorized and funded. Gang
prevention programs are reauthorized. And important, successful
programs to provide mentoring for young people in trouble with the law
or at risk of getting into trouble with the law are reauthorized and
expanded. Operating through the Cooperative Extension Service program
sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, the University of Utah has
developed a ground-breaking and highly successful program that mentors
to entire families--pairing college age mentors with juveniles in
trouble or at risk of getting in trouble with the law, and pairing
senior citizen couples with the juvenile's parents and siblings. This
program gets great bang for the buck. So our bill provides
demonstration funds to expand this program and replicate its success in
other states.
Finally, our bill provides an important new program to encourage
state programs that provide accountability in their juvenile justice
systems. All or nearly all of our states have taken great strides in
reforming their systems, and it is time for the federal government's
programs to catch up and provide needed assistance.
Despite reforms in recent years, all too often, the juvenile justice
system ignores the minor crimes that lead to the increasingly frequent
serious and tragic juvenile crimes capturing headlines. Unfortunately,
many of these crimes might have been prevented had the warning signs of
early acts of delinquency or antisocial behavior been heeded. A
delinquent juvenile's critical first brush with the law is a vital
aspect of preventing future crimes, because it teaches an important
lesson--what behavior will be tolerated. Accountability is not just
about punishment--although punishment is frequently needed. It is about
teaching consequences and providing rehabilitation to youth offenders.
According to a recent Department of Justice study, juveniles
adjudicated for so-called index crimes--such as murder, rape, robbery,
assault, burglary, and auto theft--began their criminal careers at an
early age. The average age for a juvenile committing an index offense
is 14.5 years, and typically, by age 7, the future criminal is already
showing minor behavior problems. If we can intervene early enough,
however, we might avert future tragedies. Our bill provides a new
Juvenile Accountability Block Grant to reform federal policy that has
been complicit in the system's failure, and provide states with much
needed funding for a system of graduated sanctions, including community
service for minor crimes, electronically monitored home detention, boot
camps, and traditional detention for more serious offenses.
And let there be no mistake--detention is needed as well. Our first
priority should be to keep our communities safe. We simply have to
ensure that violent people are removed from our midst, no matter their
age. When a juvenile commits an act as heinous as the worst adult
crime, he or she is not a kid anymore, and we shouldn't treat them as
kids.
State receipt of the incentive grants would be conditioned on the
adoption of three core accountability policies: the establishment of
graduated sanctions to ensure appropriate correction of juvenile
offenders, drug testing juvenile offenders upon arrest in appropriate
cases; and recognition of victims rights and needs in the juvenile
justice system.
Meaningful reform also requires that a juvenile's criminal record
ought to be accessible to police, courts, and prosecution, so that we
can know who is a repeat or serious offender. Right now, these records
simply are not generally available in NCIC, the national system that
tracks adult criminal records. Thus, if a juvenile commits a string of
felony offenses, and no record is kept, the police, prosecutors, judges
or juries will never know what he did. Maybe for his next offense,
he'll get a light sentence or even probation, since it appears he's
committed only one felony in his life instead 10 or 15. Such a system
makes no sense, and it doesn't protect the public.
So the reform we offer in this bill also provides the first federal
incentives for the integration of serious juvenile criminal records
into the national criminal history database, together with federal
funding for the system.
Finally, we all recognize the value of education in preventing
juvenile crime and rehabilitating juvenile offenders. When trouble-
causing juveniles remain in regular classrooms, they frequently make it
difficult for all other students to learn. Yet, removing such juveniles
from the classroom without addressing their educational needs virtually
guarantees that they will fall further into the vortex of crime and
delinquency. The costs are high--to the juvenile, but also to victims
and to society. These juveniles too frequently become crime committing
adults, with all the costs that implies--costs to victims, and the cost
of incarcerating the offenders to protect the public. So our bill tries
to break this cycle, by providing a three-year $45 million
demonstration project to provide alternative education to juveniles in
trouble with or at risk of getting in trouble with the law.
The bill we introduce today authorizes significant funding for the
programs I have described. In all, our bill authorizes $1 billion per
year for 5 years, in the following categories: $450 million per year
for Juvenile Accountability Block Grants; $435 million per year for
prevention programs under the JJDPA, including $200 million for
Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Block Grants, $200 million for Part B
Formula grant prevention programs, and $35 million for Gangs, Mentoring
and Discretionary grant programs; $75 million per year for grants to
states to upgrade and enhance juvenile felony criminal record histories
and to make such records available within NCIC, the national criminal
history database used by law enforcement, the courts, and prosecutors;
and $40 million per year for NIJ research and evaluation of the
effectiveness of juvenile delinquency prevention programs.
Additionally, the bill authorizes $100 million per year for joint
Federal-State-local law enforcement task forces to address gang crime
in areas with high concentrations of gang activity. $75 million per
year of this funding is authorized for establishment and operation of
High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas, and the remaining $25
million per year is authorized for community-based prevention and
intervention for gang members and at-risk youth in gang areas.
And, finally, as I have already noted, the bill authorizes $45
million over 3 years for innovative alternative education programs to
make our schools safer places of learning while helping ensure that the
youth most at risk do not get left behind.
Lastly, Mr. President, let me address a provision in the bill which
will prohibit firearms possession by violent juvenile offenders. This
section extends the ban in current law on firearm ownership by certain
felons to certain juvenile offenders. Juveniles who are adjudicated
delinquent for an offense which would be a serious violent felony as
defined in 18 U.S.C. 3559(C)(2)(f)(i)--the federal three strikes
statute--were the offense committed by an adult will no longer be able
to legally own firearms. This is common sense. If tried and convicted
as adults, these criminals would automatically forfeit their right to
own a gun.
However, we should learn our lesson as well from the so-called
domestic violence gun ban enacted several years ago. If the offense
records that allow us to know who is covered by the ban are not
available, the law is hollow, or worse--it will be enforced only in
arbitrary cases. For this reason, the ban we propose is prospective
only, applying only to delinquent acts committed after records of such
offenses are routinely available within the National Instant Check
System instituted pursuant to the Brady Law.
We should also resist seeing this provision as any sort of panacea.
Laws banning criminals from owning firearms have not stopped them from
doing so, for a simple reason--criminals do not respect or obey the
law. So
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while this provision is an appropriate step, we should be under no
illusion that it is the answer to our juvenile crime problem.
Mr. President, I believe that we all agree that it is far better to
prevent the fabric of civility from being rent than to deal with the
aftermath of juvenile crime. In the face of a confounding problem like
juvenile crime, it is tempting to look for easy answers. I do not
believe that we should succumb to this temptation. We are faced, I
believe, with a problem which cannot be solved solely by the enactment
of new criminal prohibitions. It is at its core a moral problem.
Somehow, too frequently we have failed as a society to pass along to
the next generation the moral compass that differentiates right from
wrong. This cannot be legislated. It will not be restored by the
enactment of a new law or the implementation of a new program. But it
can be achieved by communities working together to teach accountability
by example and by early intervention when the signs clearly point to
violent and antisocial behavior.
Mr. President, that is what the bill we introduce is all about. It is
a comprehensive approach to this national problem. I believe that it
now is time for the Senate to act. I urge my colleagues to review this
legislation, to support it, and to support its early debate and passage
by the Senate.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a bill summary prepared
by the Judiciary Committee staff and an article by Patricia Cornwell be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
The Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and
Rehabilitation Act of 1999--Section-by-Section Analysis
Attached is a summary of the major provisions of S. , the
Hatch-Sessions Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender
Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 1999, as introduced
January 19, 1999.
Should you have any questions about the bill not answered
by this summary or the Committee Report, please call Mike
Kennedy or Rhett DeHart of the Senate Judiciary Committee
staff at (202) 224-5225.
general provisions
Sec. 1 Short Title, Table of Contents. This section
entitles the bill as the ``Violent and Repeat Juvenile
Offender Act of 1999'', and provides a table of contents for
the bill.
Sec. 2 Findings and Purpose. This section provides
Congressional findings related to juvenile crime, the
juvenile justice system, and the changes needed to reform the
juvenile justice system to curb youth violence, ensure
accountability by youthful criminals, improve federal
juvenile delinquency prevention efforts, and recognize the
needs of crime victims.
Sec. 3 Severability. This section provides severability
for the provisions of the Act.
title i--juvenile justice reform
This title reforms the procedures by which juveniles who
commit Federal crimes are prosecuted and punished.
Sec. 101 Repeal of General Provision. This section repeals
the provision establishing the general practice of
surrendering to State authorities juveniles arrested for the
commission of Federal offenses.
Sec. 102 Treatment of Federal Juvenile Offenders. General
Provisions: This section gives the U.S. Attorney the
discretion to prosecute juveniles age 14 years or older as
adults for violations of Federal law which are serious
violent felonies or serious drug offenses (as these terms are
defined in 18 U.S.C. 3559, the Federal 3-strike statute).
Juveniles 14 and older may be prosecuted as adults for any
other felony violation of Federal law only with the approval
of the Attorney General. If approval is not given, or, for
all misdemeanor violations of Federal law, juveniles would be
proceeded against as juveniles, or referred to State or
tribal authorities. Referral to state or tribal authorities
would be presumed in all cases of concurrent state and
federal jurisdiction, unless a state refused the case, or an
overriding federal interest existed. In the special case of
juveniles alleged to have committed a federal offense and who
have a prior occasion been tried and convicted as an adult in
federal court, waiver to adult status would be automatic.
Reverse Waiver Provision: Juveniles 15 and younger charged
as an adult for serious violent felonies or serious drug
offenses, and juveniles of any age charged as an adult for
other felonies, may appeal their waiver to adult status. The
juvenile would have 20 days to seek a judicial order
returning the juvenile to juvenile status. The prosecutor
would be permitted in interlocutory appeal from an adverse
ruling, but a juvenile's appeal would be consolidated at the
end of the case.
Application to Indian Tribes: This section also includes a
limited tribal opt-in for Native American juveniles 15 and
under when federal jurisdiction is based solely on the
commission of the offense on tribal land. A tribal opt-in to
federal procedures would be required to prosecute these
juveniles as adults, although they could still be adjudicated
in federal delinquency proceedings, even in the absence of a
tribal opt-in.
Procedures: When prosecuted as adults, juveniles in Federal
criminal cases would be subject to the same procedures and
penalties as adults, including availability of records, open
proceedings, and sentencing procedures. Exceptions are
provided waiving the application of mandatory minimums to
juveniles under age 16 who have no previous serious violent
felony or serious drug offense convictions, and barring the
availability of the death penalty in any offense committed
before the juvenile was 18.
This section also provides that juveniles tried as adults
and sentenced to prison must serve their entire sentences,
and may not be released on the basis of attaining their
majority, and applies to juveniles convicted as adults the
same provisions of victim restitution, including mandatory
restitution, that apply to adults.
Sec. 103 Definitions. This section provides definitions
for terms used, including new definitions to ensure that
juveniles accused or convicted of Federal offenses are
separated from adults and to conform the definition of the
term ``juvenile'' with the procedural changes made by this
title.
Sec. 104 Notification after Arrest. This section conforms
the requirement, in 18 U.S.C. 5033, that certain persons be
notified of the arrest of a juvenile for a Federal crime,
with the procedural changes in section 102 of this subtitle,
which vests discretion to prosecute juveniles as adults with
the U.S. Attorney for the district in the appropriate
jurisdiction. This section also provides for the notification
of the juveniles' parents or guardians, and prohibits the
post-arrest housing of juveniles with adults.
Sec. 105 Release and Detention Prior to Disposition. This
section provides for pretrial detention juveniles tried as
adults on the same basis as adults, and prohibits the
pretrial or pre-disposition detention of juveniles with
adults.
Sec. 106 Speedy Trial. This section extends, from 30 to 70
days, the time in which the trial of a juvenile in detention
must be commenced, and applies in juvenile cases the same
tolling provisions for such time period that apply in adult
prosecutions.
Sec. 107 Dispositional Hearings. This section provides for
the sentencing of that juveniles found to be delinquent, but
not tried as adults. It provides for a hearing on the matter
within 40 days of an adjudication of delinquency, and
provides for victim allocution at the hearing. The section
provides a range of sentencing options to the court,
including probation, fines, restitution, and/or imprisonment,
and provides that terms of imprisonment may be imposed upon
them for the same term as adults, except that such
imprisonment must be terminated on the juvenile's 26th
birthday. Juveniles sentenced to imprisonment may not be
released solely on the basis of attaining their majority.
Sec. 108 Use of Juvenile Records. This section provides
that the federal criminal records of juveniles tried as
adults, and the federal delinquency records of juveniles
adjudicated delinquent for certain serious offenses such as
murder, rape, armed robbery, and sexual abuse or assault, are
to be treated for all purposes in the same manner as the
records of adults for the same offenses. Other federal felony
juvenile criminal or delinquency records would be treated the
same as adult records for criminal justice or national
security background check purposes.
This section also permits juvenile federal felony juvenile
criminal and delinquency records to be provided to schools
and colleges under rules issued by the Attorney General,
provided that recipients of the records are held to privacy
standards and that the records not be used to determine
admission.
Sec. 109 Implementation of a Sentence for Juvenile
Offenders. This section provides for the implementation of a
sentence on a delinquent or criminal juvenile and directs the
Bureau of Prisons to not confine juveniles in any institution
where the juvenile would not be separated from adult inmates.
Sec. 110 Magistrate Judge Authority Regarding Juvenile
Defendants. This section extends the jurisdiction of Federal
magistrate judges to class A misdemeanors involving
juveniles; permits magistrate judges to impose terms of
imprisonment on juveniles, and conforms the section
conferring authority on magistrate judges with the procedural
changes made by section 102.
Sec. 111 Federal Sentencing Guidelines. This section
conforms the Sentencing Reform Act to ensure that the Federal
Sentencing Guidelines relating to maximum penalties for
violent crimes and serious drug crimes apply to juveniles
tried as adults.
This section also amends the Sentencing Reform Act to
direct the Sentencing Commission to promulgate sentencing
guidelines for sentencing juveniles tried as adults in
Federal court, and for dispositional hearings (the equivalent
of sentencing) for juveniles adjudicated delinquent in the
Federal system.
Sec. 112 Study and Report on Indian Tribal Jurisdiction.
This section requires the Attorney General to study and
report to the Congress on the capabilities of tribal courts
and criminal justice systems relating to the prosecution of
juvenile criminals under tribal jurisdiction, and requires
the Attorney General to evaluate an expansion of tribal court
criminal jurisdiction.
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title ii--juvenile gangs
Sec. 201 Solicitation or Recruitment of Persons in
Criminal Gang Activity. This section makes the recruitment or
solicitation of persons to participate in gang activity
subject to a one-year minimum and 10-year maximum penalty, or
a fine of up to $250,000. If a minor is recruited or
solicited, the minimum penalty is increased to four years. In
addition, a person convicted of this crime would have to pay
the costs of housing, maintaining, and treating the juvenile
until the juvenile reaches the age of 18 years.
Sec. 202 Increased Penalties for Using Minors to
Distribute Drugs. This section increases the penalties for
using minors to distribute controlled substances.
Sec. 203 Penalties for Use of Minors in Crimes of
Violence. This section increases twofold, and for a second or
subsequent offense threefold, the penalties for using minors
in the commission of a crime of violence.
Sec. 204 Amendment of Sentencing Guidelines With Respect
to Body Armor. This section directs the United States
Sentencing Commission to provide a minimum two level
sentencing enhancement for any defendant committing a Federal
crime while wearing body armor.
Sec. 205 High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas.
This section authorizes the Attorney General to establish
joint agency task forces to address gang crime in areas with
high concentrations of gang activity. This provision
authorizes $100 million per year for this program; $75
million per year is authorized for establishment and
operation of High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Areas,
and $25 million per year is authorized for community-based
gang prevention and intervention for gang members and at-risk
youth in gang areas.
Sec. 206 Increasing the Penalty for Using Physical Force
to Tamper With Witnesses, Victims, or Informants. This
section increases the penalty from a maximum of 10 years'
imprisonment to a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment for using
or threatening physical force against any person with intent
to tamper with a witness, victim, or informant. This section
also adds a conspiracy penalty for obstruction of justice
offenses involving victims, witnesses, and informants. In
addition, this section makes traveling in interstate or
foreign commerce to bribe, threaten or intimidate a witness
to delay or influence testimony in a State criminal
proceeding a violation of the Federal Travel Act, 18 U.S.C.
Section 1952.
title iii--juvenile crime control, accountability, and delinquency
prevention
This title reforms and enhances federal assistance to State
and local juvenile crime control and delinquency prevention
programs. Subtitle A amends and reauthorizes the Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA), to
provide assistance to States for effective youth crime
control and accountability.
Sec. 301 Findings; Declaration of Purpose; Definitions.
This section rewrites Title I of the JJDPA. It updates and
revises the Congressional findings and declaration of purpose
contained in the JJDPA to reflect the reality of violent
juvenile crime, promote the primacy of accountability in the
juvenile justice system, and recognize the rights and needs
of victims of juvenile crime. This section also revises and
updates the definitions governing the JJDPA.
Sec. 302 Juvenile Crime Control and Delinquency
Prevention. This section rewrites Title II of the JJDPA. It
reforms and renames the current Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention within the Department of Justice,
improves services to State and local governments, and reforms
and streamlines existing JJDPA grant programs. Among the
specific provisions of the rewritten JJDPA Title II:
Reforms JJDPA Title II Part A--the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of the Department
of Justice, is renamed the Office of Juvenile Crime Control
and Prevention (OJCCP), with an Administrator appointed by
the President and confirmed by the Senate. This section also
enhances the effectiveness of the OJCCP by requiring the
OJCCP Administrator to: present to Congress annual plans,
with measurable goals, to control and prevent youth crime;
coordinate all Federal programs relating to controlling and
preventing youth crime; disseminate to States and local
governments data on the prevention, correction and control of
juvenile crime and delinquency, and report on successful
programs and methods; and serve as a single point of contact
for States, localities, and private entities to apply for and
coordinate all federal assistance and programs related to
juvenile crime control and delinquency prevention.
Consolidates numerous JJDPA programs, including Part C
Special Emphasis grants, State challenge grants, boot camps,
and JJDPA Title V incentive grants, under an enhanced
prevention challenge block grant to the States.
Reauthorizes the State formula grants under Part B of Title
II of the JJDPA:
Reforms the 3 current ``core mandates'' on the States
relating to the incarceration of juveniles (known as sight
and sound separation, jail removal, and status offender
mandates,) to ensure the protection of juveniles in custody
while providing state and local governments with needed
flexibility; provisions are based on
H.R. 1818 from the 105th
Congress, but to ensure that abuse of juvenile delinquent
inmates is not permitted, includes modified definitions from
the 105th Congress
S. 10 regarding what constitutes contact
between juveniles and adults--no prohibited physical contact
or sustained oral communication would permitted between
juveniles delinquents in detention and adult inmates;
Modifies the current ``core mandate'' requiring states to
address efforts to reduce the disproportionate number of
minorities in juvenile detention in comparison with their
proportion to the population at large, to make the language
race-neutral and constitutional;
The four ``core mandates'' retained in modified form are
each enforceable by a 12.5 percent reduction in a State's
Part B funding for non-compliance. The Administrator may
waive the penalty.
Revises JJDPA Title II Part C, to enhance federal research
efforts into successful juvenile crime control and
delinquency prevention programs; reauthorizes JJDPA Title II
Part D Gang prevention programs, and reforms the program to
provide an emphasis on the disruption and prosecution of
gangs; includes a discretionary prevention grant program
designated as Part E of Title II of the JJDPA; retains the
current Part G Mentoring program under Title II of the JJDPA,
redesignating it as Part F, and adding a pilot program to
encourage and develop mentoring programs that focus on the
entire family instead of simply the juvenile and which
utilize the existing resources and infrastructure of the
Cooperative Extension Services of Land Grant Universities;
and designates JJDPA Title II Part G for administrative
provisions, including: providing rules against use of federal
funds for behavior control experimentation, lobbying, or
litigation; subjecting JJDPA and Juvenile Accountability
Block Grants (in Title III, Subtitle B of this bill) to a
religious and charitable non-discrimination provision cross-
referenced from the welfare reform law; providing significant
funding directly from the Department of Justice for juvenile
delinquency prevention and juvenile accountability programs
in Indian country; and providing authorizations of
appropriations for the JJDPA and the Juvenile Accountability
Block Grants, as follows:
Authorizes $1 billion per year for five years, under the
following formula: $450 million (45%) for Juvenile
Accountability Block Grants; $435 million (43.5%) for
prevention programs under the JJDPA, including $200 million
for Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Block Grants, $200
million for Part B Formula grant prevention programs, and $35
million for Gangs, Mentoring and Discretionary grant
programs; $75 million (7.5%) for grants to states to upgrade
and enhance juvenile felony criminal record histories and to
make such records available within NCIC, the national
criminal history database used by law enforcement, the
courts, and prosecutors; and $40 million (4%) for NIJ
research and evaluation of the effectiveness of juvenile
delinquency prevention programs.
Sec. 303 Runaway and Homeless Youth. This section reforms
the Runaway and Homeless Youth program, and reauthorizes it
through FY 2004. The reforms steamline the program, provide
for targeting federal assistance to areas with the greatest
need, and make numerous technical changes.
Sec. 304 National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children. This section improves and reauthorizes the Missing
and Exploited Children program through FY 2004, providing on-
going authorization for grants to the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children.
Sec 305. Transfer of Functions and Savings Provisions.
This section provides technical and administrative rules to
transfer functions, and to govern the transition from the
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to
the Office of Juvenile Crime Control and Prevention.
Subtitle B Accountability for Juvenile Offenders and Public Protection
Incentive Grants
Sec. 321 Block Grant Program. Accountability Block Grant:
This section establishes an incentive block grant program for
States, authorized at $450 million for each of the next five
fiscal years, as well as a separate $50 million per year
grant program for the upgrade and enhancement of juvenile
criminal records. The incentive block grants would fund a
variety of programs, such as constructing juvenile offender
detention facilities, implementing graduated sanctions
programs; fingerprinting or conducting DNA tests on juvenile
offenders; establishing record-keeping ability; establishing
SHOCAP programs; enforcing truancy laws; and various
prevention programs including after-school youth activities,
antigang initiatives, literacy programs, and job training
programs. Indian tribes receive separate grants under this
section.
State receipt of the incentive grants would be conditioned
on the adoption of three core accountability policies: the
establishment of graduated sanctions to ensure appropriate
correction of juvenile offenders, drug testing juvenile
offenders upon arrest in appropriate cases; and recognition
of victims rights and needs in the juvenile justice system.
Fifty percent of the funds under the grant program are
designated for implementing graduated sanctions or increasing
juvenile detention space if needed by the State. Federal the
remaining fifty percent can be used for any authorized grant
purpose. Detention space construction projects must be funded
by not less than fifty percent State or local (i.e.,
nonfederal grant) money.
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The block grant includes a pass-through requirement
intended to provide a formula for local funding that reflects
the needs and responsibilities of state and local levels of
government. Seventy percent of the funds received by the
State under this block grant must be passed through to the
local level, unless the state organizes its juvenile justice
system exclusively on the State level.
Juvenile Records Grants: Criminal and juvenile record
improvement grants for the States are authorized to encourage
states to treat the records of juveniles who commit and are
adjudicated delinquent for the felonies of murder, armed
robbery, and sexual assault be treated the same as adult
criminal records for the same offenses in the state, and to
treat records of juveniles who commit any other felony be
treated, for criminal justice purposes only, the same as
adult criminal records for the same offenses. Such records
would be available interstate within the NCIC system.
Sec. 322 Pilot Program to Promote Replication of Recent
Successful Juvenile Crime Reduction Strategies. This section
authorizes the Attorney General to fund pilot programs to
replicate the successful juvenile crime reduction program
utilized by Boston, Massachusetts. Pilot program grant
recipients would adopt a juvenile crime reduction strategy
involving close collaboration among Federal, State, and local
law enforcement authorities, and including religious
affiliated or fraternal organizations, school officials,
social service agencies, and parent or local grass roots
organizations. Emphasis would be placed on initiating
effective crime prevention programs and tracing firearms
seized from crime scenes or offenders in an effort to
identify illegal gun traffickers who are supplying weapons to
gangs and other criminal enterprises
Sec. 323 Repeal of Unnecessary and Duplicative Programs.
This section repeals duplicative and wasteful programs
enacted as a part of the 1994 crime law, including the Ounce
of Prevention Council, the Model Intensive Grant program, the
Local Partnership Act, the National Community Economic
Partnership, the Urban Recreation and At-Risk Youth Program,
and the Family Unity Demonstration Project.
Sec. 324 Extension of Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund.
This section extends the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund,
established in the 1994 omnibus crime law, to fund programs
authorized by this act.
Sec. 325 Reimbursement of States for the Costs of
Incarcerating Juvenile Aliens. This section adds juvenile
aliens to the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which
provides reimbursement to the States for the costs of
incarcerating criminal aliens.
Sec. 326 Sense of Congress. This section provides the
sense of Congress that States should enact legislation to
provide that if an offense that would be a capital offense if
committed by an adult is committed by a juvenile between the
ages of 10 and 14, the juvenile could, with judicial
approval, be tried and punished as an adult, provided the
death penalty would not be available in such cases.
Subtitle C--Alternative Education and Delinquency Prevention
Sec. 331 Alternative Education. This section amends the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to provide
demonstration grants to state and local education agencies
for alternative education in appropriate settings for
disruptive or delinquent students, to improve the academic
and social performance of these students and to improve the
safety and learning environment of regular classrooms.
Certain matching amounts required under this program could
be made from amounts available to the State or local
governments under the JJDPA. Appropriations under the ESEA
of $15 million per year for four years are authorized.
Title IV--Miscellaneous Provisions
Subtitle A--General Provisions
Sec. 401 Prohibition on Firearms Possession by Violent
Juvenile Offenders. This section extends the ban on firearm
ownership by certain felons to persons who, as juveniles, are
adjudicated delinquent for an offense which would be a
serious violent felony as defined in 18 U.S.C.
3559(c)(2)(F)(i) (the federal three strikes statute), were
the offense committed by an adult. The ban is prospective,
applying only to delinquent acts committed after records of
such offenses are routinely available within the National
Instant Check System instituted pursuant to the Brady Law.
Subtitle B--Jail-Based Substance Abuse
Sec. 421 Jail-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Program.
This section provides that 10 percent of grants to States for
drug treatment in prisons (RSAT grants) should be directed to
qualified treatment programs in jails; under current law,
these funds are limited to prison treatment. This section
also allows RSAT grants to be used to provide post-
incarceration substance abuse treatment for former inmates if
the Governor certifies to the U.S. Attorney General that the
State is providing, and will continue to provide, an adequate
level of treatment services to incarcerated inmates.
____
When the Fabric Is Rent
(By Patricia Cornwell)
There was a saying in the morgue during those long six
years I worked there. When a person is touched by violence,
the fabric of civility is forever rent, or ripped or
breached, whatever word is most graphic to you.
Our country is the most violent one in the free world, and
as far as I'm concerned, we are becoming increasingly
incompetent in preventing and prosecuting cruel crimes that
we foolishly think happen only to others. There was another
saying in the morgue. The one thing every dead person had in
common in that place was he never thought he'd end up there.
He never imagined his name would be penned in black ink in
the big black book that is ominously omnipresent on a counter
top in the autopsy suite.
I have seen hundreds, maybe close to a thousand dead bodies
by now, many of them ruined by another person's hands. I
return to the morgue at least two or three times a year to
painfully remind myself that what I'm writing about is awful
and final and real.
I suffer from nightmares and don't remember the last time I
had a pleasant dream. I have very strong emotional responses
to crimes that have nothing to do with me, such as Versace's
murder, and more recently, the random shooting deaths of
Capitol Police Agent John Gibson and Officer Jacob Chestnut.
I can't read sad, scary or violent books. I watched only half
of ``Titanic'' because I could not bear its sadness. I
stormed out of Ann Rice's ``Interview With A Vampire,'' so
furious my hands were shaking because the movie is such an
outrageous trivialization and celebration of sexual violence.
For me the suffering, the blood, the deaths are real.
I'd like to confront Ann Rice with bitemarks and other
sadistic wounds that are not special effects. I'd like to
sentence Oliver Stone to a month in the morgue, make him sit
in the cooler for a while and see what an audience of victims
has to say about his films. I'd like O.J. Simpson to have
total recall and suffer, go broke, be ostracized, never be
allowed on a golf course again. I was in a pub in London when
that verdict was read. I'll never forget the amazed faces of
a suddenly mute group of beer-drinking Brits, or the shame my
friends and I felt because in America it is absolutely true.
Justice is blind.
Justice has stumbled off the road of truth and fallen
headlong into a thicket of subjective verdicts where evidence
doesn't count and plea bargains that are such a bargain they
are fire sales. I've begun to fear that the consequences and
punishment of violent crime have become some sort of mindless
multiple choice, a ``Let's Make A Deal,'' a ``Let's microwave
the popcorn and watch Court TV.''
I have been asked to tell you what my fictional character
Dr. Scarpetta would do if she were the crime czar or
Virginia, of America. Since she and I share the same opinions
and views, I am stepping out from behind my curtain of
imagined deeds and characters and telling you what I feel and
think.
It startles me to realize that at age 42, I have spent
almost half my life studying crime, of living and working in
it's pitifully cold, smelly, ugly environment. I am often
asked why people cheat, rob, stalk, slander, maim and murder.
How can anybody enjoy causing another human being or any
living creature destruction and pain? I will tell you in
three words: Abuse of power. Everything in life is about the
power we appropriate for good or destruction, and the
ultimate overpowering of a life is to make it suffer and end.
This includes children who put on camouflage and get into
the family guns. We don't want to believe that 12, 13, 16
year old youths are unredeemable. Most of them aren't. But
it's time we face that some of them have transgressed beyond
forgiveness, certainly beyond trust. Not all victims I have
seen pass through the morgue were savaged by adults. The
creative cruelty of some young killers is the worst of the
worst, images of what they did to their victims ones I wish I
could delete.
About a year ago, I began researching juvenile crime for
the follow-up of ``Hornet's Next'' (Southern Cross, January,
'99) and my tenth Scarpetta book (unfinished and untitled
yet). This was a territory I had yet to explore. I was
inspired by the depressing fact that in the last ten years,
shootings, hold-ups at ATM's, and premeditated murders
committed by juveniles have risen 160 percent. As I ventured
into my eleventh and twelfth novels, I wondered what my
crusading characters would do with violent children.
So I spent months in Raleigh watching members of the
Governor's Commission on Juvenile Crime and Justice debate
and rewrite their juvenile crime laws, as Virginia did in
1995 under the leadership of Jim Gilmore. I quizzed Senator
Orrin Hatch about his youth violence bill,
S. 10, a federal
approach to reforming a juvenile justice system that is
failing our society. I toured detention homes in Richmond and
elsewhere. I sat in on juvenile court cases and talked to
inmates who were juveniles when they began their lives of
crime.
While it is true that many violent juveniles have abuse,
neglect, and the absence of values in their homes, I maintain
my belief that all people should be held accountable for
their actions. Our first priority should be to keep our
communities safe. We must remove violent people from our
midst, no matter their age. As Marcia Morey, executive
director of North Carolina's juvenile crime commission,
constantly preaches, ``We must stop the hemorrhage
first.''
When the trigger is pulled, when the knife is plunged, kids
aren't kids anymore. We should not shield and give excuses
and probation to violent juveniles who, odds are, will harm
or kill again if they are returned to our neighborhoods and
schools. We should
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not treat young violent offenders with sealed lips and
exclusive proceedings.
``The secrecy and confidentiality of our system have hurt
us,'' says Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District
Court Judge Kimberly O'Donnell. ``What people can't see and
hear is often difficult for them to understand.''
Virginia has opened its courtrooms to the public, and Judge
O'Donnell encourages people to sit in hers and see for
themselves those juveniles who are remorseless and those who
can be saved. Most juveniles who end up in court are not
repeat offenders. But for that small number who threaten us
most, I advocate hard, non-negotiable judgment. Most of what
I would like to see is already being done in Virginia. But we
need juvenile justice reform nationally, a system that is
sensible and consistent from state to state.
As it is now, if a juvenile commits a felony in Virginia,
when he turns 18 his record is not expunged and will follow
him for the rest of his days. But were he to commit the same
felony in North Carolina, at 16 he'll be released from a
correctional facility with no record of any crime he
committed in that state. Let's say he's back on the street
and returns to Virginia. Now he's a juvenile again, and
police, prosecutors, judges or juries will never know what he
did in North Carolina.
If he moves to yet another state where the legal age is 21,
he can commit felonies for three or four more years and have
no record of them, either. Maybe by then he's committed
fifteen felonies but is only credited with the one he
committed in Virginia. Maybe when he becomes an adult and is
violent again, he gets a light sentence or even probation,
since it appears he's committed only one felony in his life
instead of fifteen. He'll be back among us soon enough. Maybe
his next victim will be you.
If national juvenile justice reform were up to me, I'd be
strict. I would not be popular with extreme child advocates.
If I had my way, it would be routine that when any juvenile
commits a violent crime, his name and personal life are
publicized. Records of juveniles who commit felonies should
not be expunged when the individual becomes an adult. Mug
shots, fingerprints and the DNA of violent juveniles should,
at the very least, be available to police, prosecutors, and
schools, and if they young violent offender has an extensive
record and commits another crime, plea bargaining should be
limited or at least informed.
Juveniles who rape, murder or commit other heinous acts
should be tried as adults, but judges should have the
discretionary power to decide when this is merited. I want to
see more court-ordered restitution and mediation. Let's turn
off the TV's in correctional centers and force assailants,
robbers, thieves to work to pay back what they've destroyed
and taken, as much as that is possible. Confront them with
their victims, face to face. Perhaps a juvenile might realize
the awful deed he's done if his victim is suddenly a person
with feelings, loved ones, scars, a name.
Prevention is a more popular word than punishment. But the
solution to what's happening in our society, particularly to
our youths, is simpler and infinitely harder than any
federally or privately funded program. All of us live
in neighborhoods. Unless you are in solitary confinement
or a coma, you are aware of others around you. Quite
likely you are exposed to children who are sad, lost,
ignored, neglected or abused. Try to help. Do it in
person.
I remember my first few years in Richmond when I was living
at Union Theological Seminary, where my former husband was a
student and I was a struggling, somewhat failed writer.
Charlie and I spent five years in a seminary apartment
complex where there was a little boy who enjoyed throwing a
tennis ball against the building in a staccato that was
torture to me.
I was working on novels nobody wanted and every time that
ball thunked against brick, I lost my train of thought. I'd
popped out of my chair and fly outside to order the kid to
stop, but somehow he was always gone without a trace, silence
restored for an hour or two. One day I caught him. I was
about to reprimand him when I saw the fear and loneliness in
his eyes.
``What's your name?'' I asked.
``Eddie,'' he said.
``How old are you?''
``Ten.''
``It's not a good idea to throw a ball against the
building. It makes it hard for some of us to work.''
``I know.'' He shrugged.
``If you know, then why do you do it?''
``Because I have no one to play catch with me,'' he
replied.
My memory lit up with acts of kindness when I was a lonely
child living in the small town of Montreat, North Carolina.
Adult neighbors had taken time to play tennis with me. They
had invited me, the only girl in town, to play baseball or
touch football w
Amendments:
Cosponsors:
