Legislature(1993 - 1994)
02/08/1993 01:37 PM Senate JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATOR TAYLOR introduced SB 54 (OFFENSES BY JUVENILE OFFENDERS) sponsored by SENATOR HALFORD and explained a committee substitute had been drafted. KENNY LEAF, committee aide, offered two items to the packets; first, administrative over sights in the original bill, and second, the amended version of the sectional analysis. SENATOR TAYLOR invited SENATOR HALFORD to testify on his bill. SENATOR HALFORD gave some history on the research he had been conducting on conditions of property crimes by juveniles, and he explained the committee substitute includes provisions for restitution to victims. He said it also includes provisions that take away the confidentiality of the minor convicted, with regard to civil cases. SENATOR HALFORD said that would allow a victim to sue a minor who does damage to the victim's property and would also provide for the use of permanent fund dividends to be attached as one of the sources from which to recover from the juvenile offender. SENATOR HALFORD wanted JACK CHENOWETH, from Legal Counsel to review the sectional analysis, and SENATOR TAYLOR paused the meeting to wait for MR. CHENOWETH. Number 566 SENATOR TAYLOR brought the committee back to order, and SENATOR HALFORD moved to send the standard letter back to the body for the confirmation of COMMISSIONER RUPP, giving no stated objections. Without objections, so ordered. SENATOR HALFORD moved to adopt the new committee substitute for SB 54, identified as CHENOWETH 2/6/93, as a mark-up vehicle. Without objections, so ordered. SENATOR TAYLOR acknowledged SENATOR DONLEY as having additional amendments. SENATOR TAYLOR noted there were Close-Up students in attendance, and he invited TRAVIS KAY to testify. MR. KAY said he was from Healy. He said they were just now researching the bill, so he didn't know much about the subject. He offered the view of a 17 year old student, and said he wanted to be treated as an adult, even though he still had doubts about his decisions. TAPE 93-7, SIDE B Number 001 MR. KAY said lessons could be learned when juveniles were treated as adults, and he thought 16 was a good age of awareness. SENATOR DONLEY suggested to the students it was difficult to understand the bill because it doesn't refer to specific crimes, but he told the students the application was for serious crimes. He listed the "bad crimes" for MR. KAY. MR. KAY said he understood the difference but found it difficult to understand the thinking of juveniles who would commit such crimes. He thought it was important to punish them, but he didn't think a juvenile should get the death sentence. SENATOR HALFORD reviewed the provisions in his bill as to age, and MR. KAY thought the provisions were good. When asked for anything further from SENATOR TAYLOR, MR. KAY said he agreed with the bill and the committee should pass it. BONNIE BERBRICH, a Close-Up student from Denali, agreed that when people are 16 years old, they should be treated and tried as adults in murder or rape. She believed juveniles should have their dividends taken away if they couldn't pay for restitution. She offered to answer questions from the kid's point of view. SENATOR TAYLOR thanked the Close-Up students for their participation and asked MR. CHENOWETH to walk the committee through a sectional analysis of the committee substitute. MR. CHENOWETH elected to walk the committee members through the legislation topically. He said the initial thrust of the legislation was the effort to identify and treat differently the minors 16 to 18 years of age, who commit classified or class A felonies, as delineated in Section 5 on page 3, beginning with line 14 through 28. He contrasted current law, which handles minors as juveniles subject to provisions of adjudication with the proposed legislation. MR. CHENOWETH said this would reverse the presumption of a minor, 16 to 18, charged with an unclassified or class A felony. Number 81 MR. CHENOWETH explained, under CSSB 54, a minor could be automatically charged, tried, and sentenced as an adult. He reviewed the remainder of the sections in terms of what sections of the law may, or may not, apply in indictments for unclassified, class A felonies, and lesser felonies or misdemeanors. MR. CHENOWETH said it was the major crime that will decide how the minor is treated, and he explained how a minor could be place back into the juvenile system to be handled as a delinquent. SENATOR DONLEY asked for any provision, if a minor can show by a preponderance or some other standard, they are amenable to treatment, they could be sent to juvenile court. MR. CHENOWETH explained how it could be done on page 3, lines 27 and 28 to give either party the opportunity to make use of the waiver of jurisdiction, and they discussed the waiver in the context of SENATOR DONLEY'S hypothetical example. SENATOR DONLEY expressed displeasure with section (h) and asked that it be deleted. SENATOR HALFORD moved to delete section (h) on page 3, line 27 and 28. SENATOR LITTLE asked, if a juvenile is adjudged to be rehabilitated, what would be the damage of retaining the section, to allow the judge to act appropriately for the benefit of the young individual. SENATOR DONLEY said the problem was the standard becomes a preponderance of the evidence, so there is a 51% chance this individual is capable of possibly being rehabilitated by the time they reach the age of majority, in which case they are going to stay in juvenile court. He thought it might be appropriate for lesser degrees of crime, but for the serious crimes, a clever person could put on a great show to prove they could be rehabilitated. SENATOR DONLEY said this puts the judge in the position of guessing at a decision, which would be a burden on the judges in those cases. SENATOR HALFORD used the example of a 17 and an 18 year old person convicted of rape/murder, in which the 18 year old would serve a minimum presumptive sentence of 8 to 15 years, while the 17 year old could be out by his 20th birthday. He thought the public would resist such sentencing, and he discussed the benefit of a solid sentence. Number 146 SENATOR LITTLE registered her objection to the amendment, saying she didn't have the wisdom to say every single juvenile who commits a crime of this degree needs to be absolutely, without exception, treated as an adult. SENATOR DONLEY brought up two points, with the first being a middle ground of higher presumption rather than just a preponderance of evidence, making a significant burden on the defendant to show they are rehabilitative. The second out would be if there is a manifest injustice by putting the person into adult court, and he asked MARGO KNUTH if they could go to a three judge panel over the sentencing. MS KNUTH said they could. SENATOR TAYLOR called for a vote on the amendment, which passed on a vote of 3 to 1, and section (h) was deleted. Number 170 MR. CHENOWETH went next to Section 8 to explain the protection from being over charged by zealous prosecutors. He covered the sentencing of juveniles in Section 10, where those younger than 18 are waived and handled as adults. MR. CHENOWETH reported opinions given on both sides of the argument, and he explained how the legislation splits the responsibility. Number 210 SENATOR HALFORD asked MR. CHENOWETH where the children, who are currently waived and tried as adults, are kept. MR. CHENOWETH didn't know. SENATOR DONLEY said they were segregated from the regular minors in a youth facility, and he discussed with SENATOR HALFORD the difficulty of isolating them. He said there had been an extensive review last year of where to put the waived juveniles. SENATOR LITTLE asked how the committee could come up with a zero fiscal note for the bill. MR. LEAF explained the fiscal notes were drafted for the original SB 54, and new fiscal notes were on the way for CSSB 54, but they were also zero. MR. CHENOWETH said he wished to discuss records of proceedings involving juveniles with reference to Section 6 on page 4, and he explained the records were confidential and may now be sealed at the end of five years, particularly if the child successfully completes rehabilitation under the sentence. He explained the change made by this section would remove the opportunity to seal records for a conviction of a minor, who was 16 years of age or older, and who was prosecuted under AS 47.10.010(e) through (g) for the commission of an unclassified felon or a class A felon. SENATOR TAYLOR choose at this point to end the discussion and not to send the bill from committee today.
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