Federal Role In Reform

Sen. Ashcroft's bill, "The Violent And Hard Core Juvenile Offender Reform Act," would encourage the states to reform their juvenile justice systems for violent and hard-core offenders by providing grants to the state under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. To receive the grants, a state would have to establish a system that would:

• Prosecute juvenile offenders 14 and older in adult court for violent crimes such as murder, rape and aggravated assault.

• Try repeat juvenile offenders 14 and older in adult court of they commit three offenses that would carry at least a one-year sentence if committed by an adult.

• Create and maintain juvenile criminal records for felons, and forward their fingerprints and photographs to the FBI for a national database.

• Make the records of these juveniles' convictions more accessible to school officials.

Today, the records of most crimes committed by juveniles are not a matter of public record. Thus school officials do not know in advance about potential problems of juvenile delinquency or criminal activity.

The bill would also amend the Federal Delinquency Act to direct the U.S. Sentencing Commission to have juvenile felony offenses considered in sentencing for adult offenders.

Source: Sen. John Ashcroft, "The Violent and Hard Core Juvenile Offender Reform Act."