(This article provides further information on the
legislative process surrounding the Juvenile Crime Control
Act, alert for which appears above.)
On 9/15, Rep. Bill McCollum, with five other House
Republicans, attached a controversial trailer (Juvenile
Crime Control Act of 1997) onto a bill introduced by Senator
Orrin G. Hatch last spring (S. 2072). This bill was
intended to authorize appropriations for the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children.
The trailer, H.R. 3, would give federal prosecutors the
power to remove cases involving juvenile offenders from the
state court system and try them in adult federal criminal
court. If this bill passes, children as young as 13 will be
placed in adult federal criminal prisons and jails with
adult criminals, both before trial and after conviction.
H.R. 3 is the House version of the Senate Bill S. 10, which
has been under much scrutiny in the Senate because of its
controversial features. The Senate has not engaged in a
significant floor debate and has not come to any majority
decision on S. 10. However, it has now bypassed Senate
debate and has been handed over to its supporters in the
House/Senate Conference Committee for their stamp of
approval.
In the minority view, published in the Committee Report on
S. 10, Senators Leahy, Kennedy, Biden, Kohl, Feingold and
Durbin write "This bill chooses sound bite over sound
policy. It reacts to the headlines about remorseless young
criminals committing horrific crimes with a hodgepodge of
so-called "get tough" fixes, an amalgam of good and bad
ideas on how to spend federal funds, and one-size
"Washington-knows-best" approach to juvenile crime that will
undoubtedly worsen the juvenile crime problem."
Shannon Gravitte, press secretary for Rep. McCollum, told
The Week Online, "In May 1997 H.R. 3 passed the house and is
a compromise to the Senate's S. 10." She went on to say
that they are not using roundabout methods to attach H.R. 3
to S. 2073, rather that there is language in S. 2073 that
allows for such procedural bypass of debate. Although H.R.
3 has been amended in the House, it has not been debated or
amended by the full Senate, nor will it.
The final bill will not be subject to amendment or debate;
rather, the bill, as amended, will come to a "yes" or "no"
vote by the full Senate. Hence, the Senate may enact H.R. 3
without having the chance to ever amend the proposal,
causing radical changes in the relationship between the
federal government and the states regarding juvenile crime.
Opponents of the bill include Chief Justice of the United
States Supreme Court William Rehnquist and the Children's
Defense Fund.
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| Issue #60, 9/25/98 DRCNet Nearing the 7,000 Mark -- Your Voice Needed | Alert: Congress Considers Jailing Children With Adults | Alert: from the Andean Information Network | On the Web | Canadian Hemp Shop Bust Aided by US Agents | Hemp BC Business License Hearing Scheduled for Next Week | Media Note: CBS Drama to Highlight Medical Marijuana | Volunteers Needed for Washington, DC Medical Marijuana Initiative | New Study Indicates That Cannabis Relieves Pain | Drug War Militarization Bill Passes House Over Objections of Colombia | Background on Juvenile Justice Bill | Massacre in Ensenada, Mexico Hits Close to US | Minnesota Marijuana Law Faces Constitutional Challenge | Human Rights Activists Accuse Russian Police of Planting Drugs | National Conference on Prisons This Weekend | Editorial: Repentance for the Drug War |
This issue -- main page This issue -- single-file printer version Drug War Chronicle -- main page Chronicle archives |
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StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
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