The Indiana Coalition For Youth Justice (ICYJ) just issued a lengthy press release summarizing the current fight against Controversial Indiana Senate Bill 449 — which is drawing community outrage for among many things including potentially making 12 Year-olds accused of certain crimes in Indiana eligible for DOC sentencing.

We have attached the full text or the press release along as images of the statement in full.

Press Release Text

The Indiana Coalition for Youth Justice (ICYJ) is a collective of community organizations, leaders, and advocates united to reimagine the current juvenile legal system into one that utilizes a culturally-responsive, trauma-informed developmental approach that is based on the science of brain development for children and emerging adults. A bill that spurred the need for this coalition during the 2019 legislative session is being reintroduced as Senate Bill 449 in 2020, and serves as the rallying cry for this and many other youth-centered groups in Indiana.

Senate Bill 449, introduced and written by Senator Erin Houchin, is more harmful than its 2019 version, which was ultimately defeated last year due to strong opposition by the public. “SB449 would not only expedite waiver/transfer to adult court for children,” Sarah Williams, Director of Advocacy & Public Policy for the Marion County Commission on Youth (MCCOY), explains. “It would expand juvenile waiver to include 12 and 13-year-olds for attempted murder, and it would add “attempted offenses” to offenses already listed under Indiana’s direct file statute. The language is just vague enough to be incredibly harmful to our community as a whole.”

These additional direct file offenses would result in many more 16 and 17 year-olds being automatically transferred to adult court due to criminal charges filed by the prosecutor without judicial involvement. A report released in October 2018 by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute found that 69% of direct file cases in 2017-18 involved African American children. There is renewed concerns that such prosecutorial decision-making will disparately impact African American children.

“If this bill passes, it would send children as young as 12-years-old to adult court, as well as ,” Williams warns. “These kids will not receive the same rehabilitative and age-appropriate support that is offered to them in the juvenile system. Although most children after sentencing are held in juvenile facilities after sentencing until age 18, judicially waived and/or automatically transferred children often are held in adult facilities during pretrial phases of the case. We know that children in adult facilities are often kept in isolation to protect them from predatory inmates, and are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted, nine times more likely to commit suicide, and once released, will be 34% more likely to commit additional and more violent offenses.”

Many children lack the competency to stand trial and assist in their defense, due to their cognitive stage of development; the younger the child, the higher the likelihood that they are not competent to understand court processes, due process, or their rights, even in the juvenile system. Moreover, research has shown that a trauma-informed and age appropriate approaches in addressing offenses committed by children are more effective in rehabilitating the child, lowering recidivism rates, promoting public safety, and achieving improved outcomes for children. At ages 12 to 14, cognitive capability is limited, and even more compromised if there is serious trauma in the child’s life. Trauma can interfere with cognition, making the child less capable of making the complex decisions that arise during adult prosecutions.

“If a child becomes involved in the justice system, we should expect developmentally-appropriate contact and approaches for the child by the system,” Dountonia S. Batts, Community Engagement Strategist, advises. “The capacity of a child to adapt and change with the right supports is unlimited – we need to focus on rehabilitation and accountability rather than punishment.”

“Due to the chronic disinvestment of traditional public schools, zero tolerance discipline policies and punitive approaches to children’s behavior seem to have replaced resources,” Batts explains. “These resources are necessary to help students struggling with behavioral issues. Without them, students of color, students in poverty, and students with special needs are disproportionately introduced to the juvenile and criminal justice system while in school.”

Dountonia S. Batts – Community Engagement Strategist

JauNae Hanger – Children’s Policy and Law Initiative IndianaPastor Ivan Douglas Hicks – Ministerium

Marcy Mistrett – Campaign for Youth Justice (Washington D.C.)Pastor Richard Reynolds – Ministerium

Sarah Williams – Marion County Commission on Youth (MCCOY)

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