Vote for bad republicans today goes to Republican Gov. Don Carcieri who implemented a very stupid plan to save Rhode Island some money without doing any homework. Smart (not) lawmakers have now advocated to save juvinille courts and family services money by ruling that many teens are to be tried as adults for things like drug laws. Many people know that teens are emotional hormonal beings that are likely to sew wild oats, and isn’t that what teen years are for? With pressure from peers, and just plain experimentation to adulthood many teens try a few joints, a bit of crack cocaine, some ecstasy etc to see what happens. Some get addicted, hooked up and some go into adulthood with it. Many teens just try it out and eventually find that it is not taking them anywhere, they stop and go on to college, a job, or a fruitful life.
But a few lawmakers trying to save a few dollars, get together and decide that instead they will put teens into prison with adults for a while to shake them up. What a liability. Are you people serious.
Rhode Island, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin try 17-year-olds as adults, according to the National Center for Juvenile Justice. Connecticut, New York and North Carolina try 16-year-olds in adult courts, although Connecticut has raised the age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 16 to 18 for most offenses starting in 2010.
College-bound teenagers arrested under the new law risk losing federal financial aid if convicted of a drug crime. Those looking for work will have to disclose a criminal record. If the 17-year-olds had been in Family Court, their records would be hidden from public view.
What a great way to write off a few youth in favor of saving a few dollars. How ’bout we save some money by getting rid of high salaries for stupid lawmakers and those in government positions that fail to do their homework?
Without doing much homework, Republican Gov. Don Carcieri’s office came up with an idea to put juveniles in the adult system to save some money. The Gov’s goof up ended up costing the State of Rhode Island over $104,000 dollars instead of $40,000 that would be saved in the juvenille system. Very smart Governor.
Not to mention something called human rights.
