Urge support for juvenile system

To the editor:

When do children become throwaways? In the late 1800s, the juvenile justice system was created because the public conscience was outraged by the unspeakable atrocities children faced when placed in adult prisons and jails. Then they were returned to society as hardened criminals. As the system developed, it became clear that housing young offenders and adult prisoners together was self-destructive and self-defeating.

Despite the lessons of history and the prodding of conscience, in the 1990s harsh laws were again enacted that treat children as adults, violent and nonviolent offenders alike. Now, a decade later, taxpayer money is being spent on studies proving what we as a nation already know. Placing children in adult prisons and jails is a failure to public safety and a waste of taxpayer dollars and grinds against the conscience of the majority of the American public.

On June 18, Senators Leahy, Specter and Kohl introduced S3155, the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2008. This bill reauthorizes the JJDPA, one of the main federal laws dealing with juvenile justice issues. If approved, this bill will increase public safety, be consistent with the latest scientific evidence on the adolescent brain and will give youths second chances to become productive citizens instead of a burden to society.

Please show support for this bill by contacting our Missouri senators today.

TRACY McCLARD, Jackson