Tell Minnesota: 10-Year-Olds Don't Belong in Adult Court

A bill pending before the Minnesota legislature would allow judges in the state to try 10-year-olds as adults for offenses involving murder, manslaughter, assault, aggravated robbery or sexual conduct. This is a mistake for so many reasons, and we need to tell Minnesota lawmakers why.

Strong evidence shows that people below 16 or 17 years of age have not developed the adult brain functions needed to fully analyze consequences of their actions. Programs around the country (like this one) have shown incredible results in recent years in diverting young people from a life of crime through treatment, education and community connections. Sending young people to adult court -- and adult prison -- is not the answer to juvenile crime.

This is an issue of national importance. We may be experiencing an awakening of bipartisan enlightenment on the failure of legacy prison-focused justice, but that doesn't mean we don't need to be vigilant against tough-on-crime policies and the politicians who promote them when they rear their fear-mongering head. Minnesota has traditionally been a fairly rational state on criminal justice issues, and a law like this would send the wrong message: that some people don't deserve a second chance. If passed, this law -- called "Emily's Law" -- would join Minnesota with just a few other states that allow 10-year-olds to be tried as adults.

Join me in calling on members of the Minnesota House Committee on Public Safety, Crime Prevention Policy and Finance to reject this law, and to direct critical state resources to rehabilitation, not incarceration.

Emily's Law is named for a two-year-old girl killed by a 13-year-old boy in 2006. A crime like that is a terrible tragedy. I can't even begin to imagine the suffering her family has endured. We should do what we can to avoid these episodes of violence, and when they happen the perpetrator should be held accountable -- but in an manner appropriate for his age.  I simply don't believe that treating a 13-year-old as equal to a 30-year-old man fully aware of his actions is the right action for the state. This boy committed a terrible crime, but he needs treatment, not a prison cell.

A panel of Pennsylvania judges will soon decide whether 13-year-old Jordan Brown will be tried as an adult for the shooting murder of his father's girlfriend when he was 11. Such violence throws us off kilter and leads to responses more tailored to personal vengeance and raw emotion than rational, sober public policy. Minnesota should reject sentencing young children as adults and send a message to states like Pennsylvania that kids are different.

Send your message to Minnesota lawmakers here.

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