NELA Senator introduces legislation requiring 17-year-olds to be tried as adults

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - State Senator Stewart Cathey (R-33) is taking aim at the rising crime rate in Louisiana.

Cathey introduced a bill that would require 17-year-olds to be tried as adults.

The measure would repeal a 2016 “Raise the Age” law which steered 17-year-olds to the juvenile justice system.

“This bill simply in its initial form repeals back the “Raise the Age” legislation for 17-year-olds to be tried as adults,” Senator Cathey told a senate committee on April 26.

Attorney General Jeff Landry spoke in favor of the bill.

“What had happened in 2016/2017 in this very Capitol did nothing to reduce the crime in our communities,” Landry explained.

Data Analyst Jeff Asher says crime is up, but there is no correlation between the rising crime rate and the 2016 law.

“The question is whether or not the legislation led to that, and I think the evidence is significantly more flimsy in support of that idea,” explained Asher, who is based in New Orleans.

Rachel Gassert with the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights says currently District Attorney’s can still charge criminals as adults if they commit a violent crime.

“Seventeen-year-olds can be prosecuted as adults through a very simple procedure that the DA’s have complete and total control over,” Gassert said.

Gassert believes charging 17-year-olds as adults should not be automatic.

“If there is a kid who commits a very minor offense and is a great kid, and you think man, I don’t want this kid to have a criminal record of this arrest to be on their record for the rest of their life and prevent them from getting a good job and going on,” said Gassert.

The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and heads to the floor for debate.

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