Louisiana is one of just nine states that treats 17-year-olds as adults when it comes to any criminal offense. That’s about to change, now, as the full House has passed SB 324.
“It creates a mandate that certain 17-year-olds be treated as juveniles, and not as adults, for certain offenses,” Livingston Rep. Sherman Mack explained, as he handled the “Raise the Age” bill on the House floor Thursday. “So you’re talking more-or-less crimes where it’s kind of a no-brainer – a theft or something like that that really should be treated as a juvenile.”
It wasn’t the argument for justice, or even who backed the bill, that resonated with House members.
“This was a part of the Governor’s package,” Mack reminded them
“Is there some money in this somewhere?” Monroe Rep. Jay Morris asked.
“It costs more to incarcerate a 17-year-old, as a juvenile in an adult facility,” Mack said. “An adult, that costs you about $60 a day. When you incarcerate a juvenile, that costs you about $250 a day. So, we may end up saving some money.”
Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger stepped in with an additional argument.
“Isn’t there a federal law that requires special treatment of 17-year-olds that get incarcerated with adults?” Leger asked.
“Yes,” Mack replied
“In fact there are complications and expenditures that are required…” Leger continued.
“And lawsuits,” Mack interrupted.
“And lawsuits related to continuing to put 17-year-olds in a general population adult prison. So, at least part of the reason to do this is to ensure we’re in compliance with those federal laws?”
Mack agreed, as the House ultimately did, voting 97-3 for the bill.
The full Senate still has to concur on some technical amendments to the measure, but then it’s headed to the governor’s desk. And Governor John Bel Edwards issued a statement saying, “I look forward to signing this bill into law.”