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Trying
and Sentencing Juveniles/Kids in Adult Court
Under current
Georgia law, youth ages 13 to 17 may be tried as adults for allegedly
committing one of seven crimes. The crimes, otherwise known as the "Seven
Deadly Sins" include: murder, rape, armed robbery (with a firearm),
aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery
and voluntary manslaughter.
The law
that allows youth to be tried as adults is often referred to as "SB440".
INFORMATION
ABOUT GEORGIA'S PROSECUTION OF JUVENILES AS ADULTS and REFORM EFFORTS
New Release
SB440 2004 Report September, 2004 (pdf)
Fiscal Year 2004, Fourth Quarter Update
The Georgia Public Defender Standards Council (GPDSC), formerly the Georgia Indigent Defense Council (GIDC), is the only organization that tracks and reports on Senate Bill 440 ("seven deadly sins") cases. When the legislation was passed in 1994, GIDC began collecting information about SB440 arrests and case dispositions. GPDSC receives financial assistance from the Governor's Children and Youth Coordinating Council (CYCC) to continue this project.
Senate Study Committee on Youth and Crime
In June
2004 Senator Bill Hamrick (R-Carrollton) convened a Senate Study Committee
on Youth and Crime in response to the high profile case where a twelve
year old boy has been charged with the strangling death of an eight
year old neighbor.
The Committee
plans to look at the laws governing younger children who commit violent
crimes and make recommendations for the 2005 legislative session.
During the
first Study Committee meeting Judge Peggy Walker provided testimony
to the committee and made recommendations for further action.
Update:
2004 Legislative Session
Taking
away many lessons learned from last year's long fought battle to repeal
SB 440, the Campaign for Juvenile Justice was back at the Capitol this
year with a renewed strategy and vision. The 2004 strategy includes
breaking the repeal effort down into separate bills, each of which deals
with a particular provision of SB 440. Five different pieces of legislation
were introduced, however, none successfully made it through the general
assembly to become law. A description of those bills is included below.
- HB
1169 dealing with abolishing the provisions regarding mandatory minimums
and creating a new sentencing structure.
-
HB 1299 dealing with time limitations as to the number of days a grand
jury has to indict a juvenile charged with an SB 440 offense, before
the case is automatically sent down to juvenile court.
- HB
1418 gives the juvenile court jurisdiction over juveniles charged
with delinquency offenses until age 18 and raises the age of majority
for purposes of SB 440 offenses to 18. HB 1418 has been assigned to
the House Judiciary Committee.
- HB
1487 provides that persons under 18 who are convicted of aggravated
child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, or aggravated sodomy
are not subject to mandatory minimum sentences. It further provides
that persons under 18 convicted of armed robbery are not subject to
mandatory minimum sentences if a firearm was not used and no bodily
injury occurred. HB 1487 has been assigned to the House Special Judiciary
Committee.
- HB
1490 provides that the juvenile court has original concurrent jurisdiction
over juveniles alleged to have committed an SB 440 offense which previously
would have been under the exclusive jurisdiction of the superior court.
This means that instead of a case automatically going to superior
court, the case will originate in juvenile court and can only be transferred
to superior court after a transfer hearing has been held. At the transfer
hearing the juvenile court judge will hear evidence and determine
whether transfer to superior court is appropriate. HB 1490 has been
assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.
Summary of reform efforts during the 2003 Legislative Session with the
introduction of HB 670
During the
2003 legislative session a growing number of advocates joined forces
to oppose Senate Bill (SB) 440, which provides the superior court with
exclusive jurisdiction over juveniles who commit certain crimes, and
sought to reform the law. House Representatives Alisha Thomas, Barbara
Bunn, Mary Margaret Oliver, Nick Moraitakis, Nan Orrock and Mable Thomas
sponsored the legislation, known as House Bill (HB) 670, which would
repeal certain provisions of SB 440 and would allow the juvenile court
discretion on whether a juvenile should be tried as an adult.
HB 670 faced
some strong opposition in the legislature and was eventually tabled
at the end of the session and now that version of the bill is essentially
dead. However, a strong contingent of advocates have continued interested
in reforming this law and have discussed continuing their efforts.
For more information on these efforts visit our website for updates
throughout the 2004 legislative session.
Read
HB
670.
More
information on Georgia's Law that permits Juvenile Prosecution in Adult/Criminal
Court
Links
to More SB440 Information
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