State Sens. Camera Bartolotta (R-Washington) and Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia) introduced legislation on Monday aiming to land fewer underage defendants in Pennsylvania’s adult criminal-justice system.
Responding to a report by the state’s Juvenile Justice Task Force, the two senators believe too many of Pennsylvania’s youth are tried as adults and too many are detained away from home for minor offenses.
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Pennsylvania state Reps. Dan Miller (D-Mt. Lebanon) and Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) are preparing to introduce legislation that would mitigate several features of the commonwealth’s criminal-justice system for minors.
The two Democrats would limit juvenile probation to one year for misdemeanors and to 1.5 years for felonies, stop levying nearly any juvenile court fees or fines and raise the age at which children are subject to juvenile court to 13. Under their proposal, criminal prosecution would not be an option for anyone under the age of 10.
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