Legal Insights: Is Moving 17 Year-Olds Back Into Juvenile Court the Right Move?

Should all 17-year-olds in Wisconsin, regardless of their offense, be treated as adults in our criminal justice system?  That’s the question Wisconsin lawmakers are considering with a new bill before the Assembly’s Corrections Committee. The bipartisan proposal would reverse a 1996 law and non-violent offenders would have their cases moved back to juvenile court. The proposal would not affect those charged with violent crimes such as homicide, rape or battery. It also wouldn't affect repeat offenders.

A variety of groups have voiced their support the change, including the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Catholic Conference and the state public defender. Meanwhile, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen is against the measure because he believes the current system works well.

As someone who has dealt with these types of juvenile cases for the past 13 years as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney, I can honestly say I can understand both sides of the argument.

From a prosecutorial standpoint, I think it gives prosecutors an opportunity while in the criminal justice system to still give youthful offenders the warning, a “shot across the bow” so to speak so, hopefully, they can change their ways.  As a defense attorney, I see a lot of 17 year-olds who don’t realize the ramifications of their actions. I also see that in the municipal courts where I’ve served as a judge where the young person gets a citation and really doesn’t understand that he or she could be charged criminally for a given offense.

What I think is lacking in some of the discussions I’ve seen about this proposal is that, in the big picture, there is statutory authority called “expungement” under 973.015 in the Wisconsin statutes.  It allows, in certain non-violent felonies punishable by less than 6 years in prison, and misdemeanors, for any individual under the age of 25 at the time of the offense to have their record expunged.  They get a dose of reality, a better understanding of how serious their offense is, but also have the opportunity to have their record wiped clean.

I think everybody who's debating this issue needs to be aware that there is the possibility statutorily, for courts to expunge individuals’ records.  If Attorney General Van Hollen believes that the system is working just fine right now, I have no reason to quarrel with that position other than to say, from a defense attorney’s perspective, it sure would be nice if we could keep 17 year-olds out of the adult criminal justice system.

The practicality of putting 17 year-olds back into the juvenile system is, I believe, is a concern about the juvenile system’s size.  In Waukesha County, for example, there’s only one juvenile court judge (William Domina) at this time. A large influx of new cases would probably flip that court onto its head with respect to scheduling, bringing in many new cases which otherwise would not have been in that court facility.

Right now, Wisconsin is one of only 11 states where people under the age of 18 are automatically treated as adults.  Moving forward, however, I don’t think flooding the juvenile court system with many, many more cases will be financially doable. Any significant case load increase will likely turn the juvenile court system upside down and I don’t see lawmakers being able to do a cost/benefit analysis that would justify the additional costs and loss of case load efficiency.

About Attorney Mark Powers
Attorney Mark Powers is a partner at the criminal defense law firm of Huppertz & Powers, S.C. in Waukesha. Previously, Powers served as an Assistant District Attorney with the Waukesha County District Attorney's office and is currently serving as a municipal judge in North Prairie. He focuses in the area of criminal defense, and has handled many cases involving operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, domestic disputes, and drug offenses.

Powers attended Valparaiso University School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctorate. Prior to law school, Mark attended the University of Wisconsin, Lacrosse where he received his bachelor of science in Political Science.

For more information, please call 262.549.5979 or visit www.waukeshacriminalattorneys.com.