SENATE BILL NO. 63 "An Act providing for automatic waiver of juvenile jurisdiction and prosecution of minors as adults for certain violations of laws by minors who use deadly weapons to commit offenses that are crimes against a person, and relating to the sealing of the records of those minors." SENATOR DAVE DONLEY provided members with a new proposed committee substitute for SB 63, work draft 0-LS029\K, 1/27/98 (copy on file). He explained that the language in subsection (3) of the proposed committee substitute should be amended on page 2, line 11. He suggested that "a crime against a person punishable as a felony" be deleted and "class B felony and the felony is a crime against a person" be inserted. Co-Chair Therriault MOVED to ADOPT work draft 0-LS029\K, 1/27/98, as the version before the Committee. There being NO OBJECTION, the motion was adopted. Co-Chair Therriault MOVED to ADOPT a verbal Amendment #1 to delete "a crime against a person punishable as a felony" and insert "class B felony and the felony is a crime against a person". There being NO OBJECTION, the motion was adopted. Senator Donley explained that the committee substitute would limit the applicability of the automatic waiver to approximately three cases a year. A second class B felony offense committed with a deadly weapon, not a dangerous instrument, would be added. Co-Chair Therriault explained that the Department of Health and Social Services determined that three additional cases a year would be waived. Representative Davies provided members with Amendment # 2 (copy on file). He explained that the amendment would clarify that "a crime against a person" modifies class A and unclassified felonies. He observed that this is the current interpretation by the Department of Law. He asserted that serious crimes are currently being waived under existing law. He observed that there is an over the counter version of aspirin in Canada, 222, which contains the controlled substance codeine. Under the proposed committee substitute, a minor could be automatically waived in to adult court for giving a 222. Representative Davies MOVED to ADOPT Amendment #2. Senator Donley spoke against the amendment. He emphasized that the original legislation intended that waiver of unclassified felonies would not be dependent on being a crime against a person. He noted that Senator Halford, the original sponsor, is opposed to the amendment. Co-Chair Therriault clarified that a minor would have to be under the age of 19 and deliver a controlled substance to a person whom is at least three years younger to be impacted by the amendment. MARGOT KNUTH, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, CRIMINAL DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LAW spoke against the amendment. In response to a question by Representative Davies, Ms. Knuth observed that the Department of Law and the Department of Health and Social Services interprets "a crime against a person" to modify both unclassified and class A felonies. She asserted that the change would be beyond the scope of the bill's title. Senator Donley observed that the original legislation was the result of a conference committee compromise. He noted that the original Senate version was not limited to a crime against a person. The House version was limited to a crime against a person. He maintained that the compromise did not limit unclassified felonies to crimes against a person. Class A felonies were limited to crimes against a person. Ms. Knuth stated that the title indicates that the legislation is an Act providing for automatic waiver of juvenile jurisdiction and prosecution of minors as adults for certain violations of laws by minors who use deadly weapons to commit offenses that are crimes against a person. The amendment would expand automatic waiver to unclassified felonies that are not crimes against a person. Senator Donley argued that the title difficulty is only based on an interpretation from the Department of Law. He stated that he could equally argue the other side based on the conference committee history. He maintained that the conference committee intent was clear. Co-Chair Therriault OBJECTED to the adoption of Amendment Ms. Knuth noted that there are other unclassified offenses that are not crimes against a person. She observed that, in addition to controlled substances in the first degree that tampering with the pipeline would be an unclassified offense that is not a crime against a person. She reiterated that unclassified felony offenses, that are also crimes against a person, are appropriate for an automatic waiver. She stressed that the Department of Law has not considered the propriety of automatic waiver for unclassified felony offenses that are not crimes against a person. Senator Donley emphasized that prosecutors can use discretion by charging a lesser offense. Representative Davies maintained that based on cases that have been waived since 1997, waivers are occurring on offenses below the level of concern addressed by the legislation. Senator Donley stressed that the legislation would not require a prior history of serious crimes to seek the automatic waiver. He maintained that there is a serious problem in the juvenile justice system of repeat offenders of violent crimes. He asserted that current waivers are the result of a history of violent crimes. He did not think that less serious crimes are waived without a history of offenses. Ms. Knuth emphasized that the safe guard of the juvenile criminal system should not be based on the ability of prosecutors to under charge offenses. She maintained that prosecutors should be allowed to enforce the law in the form that it is legislated. Senator Donley stressed that prosecutors commonly use discretion. He noted that it is difficult to craft laws that cover every possible scenario. Ms. Margot acknowledged that there are cases were prosecutors use discretion. She noted that prosecutors might decide to use a lesser plea to avoid a trial that would further victimize the victim. Representative Kelly noted that one of the reasons the state of Alaska has open court is to protect the rights of the accused. He asserted prosecutors would not prosecute the case of a minor who gave his sister aspirin with codeine. He emphasized that the amendment would give prosecutors the ability to go after the "really bad kid." Ms. Knuth noted that the House Finance Committee is the last committee of referral for the legislation. She emphasized that the amendment represents a substantive change of law. She expressed concern that the issue has not been addressed in any other hearings and is not reflected in the title of the bill. Representative Davies spoke in support of Amendment #2. He reiterated that the discretion to waive juveniles into adult court already exists. Co-Chair Therriault noted that he would hold the bill to determine if the amendment would present a title problem. SB 63 was HELD in Committee for further consideration.