Supervisors Vote to Oppose Juvenile Crime Initiative

After nearly 90 minutes of impassioned arguments over juvenile crime, the county Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to oppose Proposition 21, the juvenile crime initiative on the March 7 statewide ballot.

Backed by former Gov. Pete Wilson, it aims to toughen laws against young people who commit serious crimes by allowing prosecutors--rather than judges--to determine whether juveniles accused of violent felonies such as murder, rape or drive-by shootings should be tried as adults.

Opponents noted that juvenile crime is plummeting and contended that the initiative would boost prison spending while setting back efforts to rehabilitate youths, which they say have been successful.

“We’re in the 21st century now,” said Peter Garnica, one of several county probation officers to testify against the initiative. “This proposition will essentially send us back 100 years.”

But supporters, who were vastly outnumbered at Tuesday’s meeting, told supervisors that the system has been too lenient on offenders, who, if tried as juveniles, cannot be held past age 25.

“Children who kill children should not be released in three years,” said T. Jean Adenika-Morrow, a professor at Cal State L.A. whose son was killed by a 14-year-old.

Supervisor split 3 to 2 along party lines in opposing the initiative, with Democrats citing the estimated $37-million annual cost for increased incarceration to be borne by the county. “It moves from a judicial process to a political process [the decision of] who should be tried as an adult,” Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said.

The 45-page initiative contains a host of measures that would change how the system treats those under 18, but the most significant is giving prosecutors the power to try juveniles as adults. In Los Angeles County, 4,200 youths in the probation system could be tried as adults under terms of the initiative, Chief Probation Officer Richard Shumsky said.

Gov. Gray Davis and the state’s District Attorneys Assn. supports the initiative; religious leaders, including Cardinal Roger Mahony, probation officers, the state PTA and Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks oppose it. The Los Angeles City Council has also voted to oppose the measure.