Congress proposes lowering the maximum and minimum ages of juvenile prosecution.
The House of Representatives passed two bills this week to reduce the maximum and minimum age a person can be prosecuted as a youth offender in Washington, D.C. The District of Columbia currently allows the criminal justice system to charge offenders as juveniles from 16 years of age up to 24. One bill lowers the maximum age of youth offenders from 24 to 18. The other bill lowers the minimum age from 16 to 14.
“We all know somebody who’s been carjacked or had a wallet stolen at gunpoint or was mugged,” Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference. “It’s happened to members of Congress in our nation’s capital, and we have to stop it.”
While the bills received some bipartisan support, Representative Robert Garcia of California, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, called the bills a “violation of the rights of Washington, D.C., and the democratic process.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For respresentatives in the House as they consider the remaining legislation addressing criminal justice in the District of Columbia.
- For discernment for members of the Senate as they consider the measures that address juvenile prosecution.
Sources: Roll Call, Washington Examiner
