SUPPORT GROWS FOR WISCONSIN LEGISLATION TO RAISE
AGE FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AS AN ADULT

In the mid-1990s, as part of an effort to crack
down on juvenile offenders in Wisconsin,
lawmakers decided that 17-year-olds would be
treated as adults in the criminal justice system.

Now, there is a growing sentiment that the
Legislature went too far in dropping the age of
majority from 18 to 17. Critics say it has been
unduly harsh to teenagers, branding many as
criminals for committing youthful misdeeds.

Legislation was introduced in February to return
17-year-olds to juvenile jurisdiction. While
there is some skepticism and criticism of the
bill, it has drawn the support of a number of
local justice officials, including Outagamie County Judge John Des Jardins.

"Most of them are high school kids who do foolish
juvenile things and are not operating as adults
yet," Des Jardins said. "I think the whole system
would be better if (17-year-olds) just remained in the juvenile system."

Those who support the change say 17-year-olds who
commit serious crimes would not get a free pass.
They could be waived into adult court and
subjected to adult penalties =AD just as they were
before the law went into effect in 1996.

In late January, state Rep. Fred Kessler,
D-Milwaukee, introduced legislation that would
raise the age at which people could be treated as
adults for criminal prosecution from 17 to 18.

"It's long overdue," said Neenah attorney Jeff
Oswald, who has represented a number of
17-year-olds over the years. "In retrospect, it
was a huge mistake, and I think everybody realizes that."

Oswald said the present system allows
17-year-olds to be charged with sexual assault
for having consensual relations with a girlfriend
or boyfriend. He added that many of the cases
against the teens involve offenses like
possession of marijuana, theft, simple battery and criminal damage to
property.

"The kids and parents are shocked (that the
offenses land 17-year-olds in adult court)," he
said. "They're not capable of making the same type of decisions as adults."

Oswald said handling 17-year-olds as juveniles is
preferable to treating them as adults.

"The juvenile system is a lot different," he
said. "There's more of a focus on rehabilitation.
The adult system is based on punishment."

While Kessler's bill has drawn support from
defense attorneys, the State Bar of Wisconsin and
the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families,
it is not a shoo-in for passage in the Legislature.

State Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, said the bill
will likely not begin to advance through the legislative process until
January.

Kaufert didn't express an opinion about raising
the age of majority back to 18, but said the issue deserves to be aired.

"I'm open to revisiting this issue," he said.
"There are some situations where you have to
question if it was right decision to put
(17-year-olds) into adult court. On the other hand, some deserve to be
there."

Bill Cosh, communications officer for the state
Department of Justice, said Atty. Gen. J.B. Van
Hollen hasn't commented on Kessler's bill because
it has yet to receive a legislative hearing.

But Cosh said Van Hollen isn't convinced of the
need for reforming the law. Van Hollen believes
local prosecutors are best suited to determine
when criminal charges should be filed against
17-year-olds and when less formal measures are needed, Cosh said.

"In this system, 17-year-olds are presumptively
in criminal court but may be sent to juvenile
court in appropriate cases, as determined by
those local officials in the best position to
evaluate the appropriate disposition of a given
case and an application of well-developed legal standards," Cosh said.

John Kuech, supervisor of the Oshkosh office of
the State Public Defender, said 17-year-olds
generally lack the maturity to be prosecuted as adults.

While judges sometimes expunge, or erase, the
convictions of 17-year-olds who commit relatively
minor offenses, getting an adult conviction can
have long-lasting consequences for the teens, Kuech said.

"I think the whole system would be better off if
they just remained in the juvenile system," he
said. "We're giving 17-year-old kids who aren't
even out of high school criminal records. That's
not a good way to start their adult lives."