Rhode Island lawmakers repeal law imprisoning teens
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By Ray Henry Associated Press - Published: October 31, 2007
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island lawmakers voted Tuesday to repeal a recently enacted law that sent 17-year-old criminal offenders to adult prisons, a flawed cost-cutting step that seemed unlikely to save money and was denounced as unfair by childhood advocates.
In a rushed session, the General Assembly decided that 17-year-olds charged with crimes should be sent to Family Courts and the State Training School, a juvenile detention facility, overturning a policy that started almost four months ago.
It was supposed to save money because keeping an inmate in the state prison costs $58,000 more per year on average than keeping a teenager at the training school. But Gov. Don Carcieri's administration never consulted with prison officials before making the proposal. As it turns out, teenagers at the prison are placed in an expensive protective custody wing that costs several thousand dollars more than the training school.
In the end, Democratic leaders in the legislature attempted to fix a flawed policy with a bill that few lawmakers had seen until minutes before voting on it Tuesday night.
A spokesman for Gov. Don Carcieri, a Republican, said he had not yet examined the bill, but he had no immediate plans to veto it.
Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of Rhode Island Kids Count, and others had argued that 17-year-olds should not be treated as adults or cut off from the rehabilitation offered in juvenile courts. "I consider tonight a success," she said. "The way to address that cost issue was not to take away the rights of 17-year-old kids across the board."
Under the law adopted Tuesday, the adult court records of 17-year-olds will be effectively hidden from public view once their cases are closed, making it easier for them to apply for jobs or get federal student loans.
But House lawmakers rejected a more extensive repeal backed by the Senate that would have applied retroactively to almost 50 teenagers charged with adult offenses since July 1, when the now-repealed law took effect.
Earlier in the day, Deputy Attorney General Gerald Coyne had testified to lawmakers that trying to make the repeal retroactive could cause chaos in the court system.
The rejected bill also included stronger language discouraging Family Court judges and the state's child welfare agency from sending all but the most serious offenders to the State Training School.
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