DRACONIAN BILL SNEAKS PAST THE HOUSE

Last week, while the nation was distracted by the Clinton-Lewinsky affair,
House Republicans smuggled through the most controversial and punitive
juvenile-crime bill in the last 25 years. And they didn't even open the bill
up for debate. You may not have heard about it, since the media gave it
hardly any attention. But it could have grave consequences.

House Republicans used sleight-of-hand to sandwich the vote between several
impeachment-related debates. And they also scheduled it for primary day,
when nearly 30 congressional members were absent, many campaigning in their
home states.

The House joined the juvenile-crime bill to the popular Missing and
Exploited Children's Act. This stealth strategy eliminated any debate on the
best approach to reducing juvenile crime--a subject that Americans are
deeply interested in. More than 100 amendments--funding for prevention,
separating kids from adults in jail and sensible gun-control measures--had
been awaiting the juvenile-crime bill. Now there's little hope for tempering
some of the bill's harshest measures.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), whose staff worked with House Republicans to
mastermind the end run, has been openly frustrated at his inability to pass
his juvenile-crime bill. Hatch's bill would allow teenagers to be jailed
with adults for nothing more than running away from home, and it opens up
juvenile-arrest records to college admissions offices.

At the same time we are being asked to forgive the extramarital affair of
Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) as a "youthful indiscretion," we are being told
that America's prospective college students should forever pay for their
mistakes.

This type of gamesmanship should have no place in deciding important issues
like the future of America's juvenile-justice system or the safety of our
kids and communities. While it may allow Republicans to go home for election
season with a seemingly tough-on-crime bill under their belts, it won't make
our country safer. And it certainly won't make us any more humane.

Putting kids in jails with adults is a nightmare. According to a Columbia
University study, kids in adult jails and prisons are five times more likely
to be sexually assaulted and twice as likely to be beaten by staff than kids
housed in juvenile facilities. A Justice Department study found that youth
in adult facilities are eight times more likely to commit suicide than kids
in juvenile institutions. And when authorities release juveniles who have
been jailed with adults, they get arrested more quickly, more frequently and
for more violent offenses than kids retained in the juvenile system.

Unfortunately, the future of America's juvenile-justice system now rests in
the hands of Sen. Orrin Hatch and a badly distracted Senate. That's a
dangerous place for it to be.

Checked-by: Don Beck