View source for Resolution to Treat 17-Year-Olds As Juveniles

{{Infobox ALEC Bills
|bill_title          = Resolution to Treat 17-Year-Olds As Juveniles
|date_introduced     = December 3, 2015
|date_reviewed       = 
|date_finalized      = January 16, 2016
|date_amended        =	
|date_accessed       = April 27, 2018
|type                = Model Resolution
|status              = Final
|task_forces         = Criminal Justice
|keywords            = Criminal Justice
|notes               =
}}

<h2><em>Summary</em></h2>
<p>This Resolution recognizes that 17-year-olds, who typically are juniors and seniors in high school living with their parents, should be presumptively treated as juveniles in the justice system.</p>

<h1>Resolution to Treat 17-Year-Olds As Juveniles</h1>
<p><u></u><strong>Whereas</strong>, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is committed to developing effective criminal justice policies that create safe communities for citizens as well as strong state budgets; and</p>
<p><strong>WHEREAS</strong>, in more than 80 percent of states 17-year-olds are presumptively processed in the juvenile justice system; and</p>
<p><strong>WHEREAS</strong>, 17-year-olds are typically juniors and seniors in high school living with their parents; and</p>
<p><strong>WHEREAS</strong>, state juvenile justice systems typically allow for most types of offenses to be eventually be sealed if the person subsequently is law-abiding while an adult criminal record presents a significant obstacle to an individual’s ability to obtain employment, housing, and education, particularly given the proliferation of mechanisms for performing far-reaching background checks; and</p>
<p><strong>Whereas</strong>, research has found that 17-year-olds are less likely to recidivate when placed in the juvenile system, which generally provides smaller caseloads, greater access to rehabilitation, and closer collaboration with families and schools; and</p>
<p><strong>Whereas</strong>, 17-year-olds are far more likely to be physically and sexually abused if places in adult prisons; and</p>
<p><strong>Whereas</strong>, only the juvenile system ensures that the parent or guardian is contacted upon arrest and given the right to participate in court proceedings; and</p>
<p><strong>Whereas</strong>, states that have recently raised the age such as Connecticut and Illinois to bring 17-year-olds in the juvenile system have experienced positive results; and</p>
<p><strong>WHEREAS</strong>, states have procedures for trying youths as adults, which generally apply to the most serious crimes, and such provisions would similarly apply to 17 year-olds if they are presumptively treated as juveniles;</p>
<p><strong>Therefore Be It Resolved</strong> that [insert state here] should join more than four-fifths of all states in presumptively treating 17-year-olds as juveniles by passing legislation to raise its age of juvenile jurisdiction.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Approved by Task Force in December 2015</em></p>