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Stand Up For Sane Juvenile Justice Policy: Oppose S. 1735
Less than 18 months after the Senate passed rational and balanced federal juvenile justice legislation, two Senators have introduced a harsh, punitive new bill that would expand the use of the death penalty and create new, ill-defined crimes. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) have introduced the Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act of 2003 (S. 1735), a measure that includes dangerous provisions that would expand the use of the death penalty to additional crimes and create additional federal "gang" crimes that lack clear definition. Under this proposed legislation, people could be convicted and sentenced to death for ill-defined illegal "participation" in a "gang," which could be as few as three people. The law’s loose definitions and expansion of the death penalty would increase the probability that people are wrongly convicted and possibly even executed. In addition, prosecutors, not judges, would have discretion to send juveniles into the adult correctional system, and experiment that's been tried with disastrous effects in California and Florida. Stand up for sane juvenile justice measures; oppose the political pandering and fear-mongering of S. 1735.
Dear [ Decision Maker ] , I oppose your bill, S. 1735. It creates new, ill-defined crimes, which could increase wrongful convictions. It creates new "gang" crimes for groups of people as few as three and could hold people responsible for crimes that other people commit. Furthermore, lengthening the period of time for which a person could be charged with a crime will increase the likelihood of people being unjustly imprisoned. I also do not believe that the death penalty's use should be expanded, as your bill does. We know innocent people have been exonerated across the country; why expand a system that is broken? Finally, allowing prosecutors, rather than judges, to determine which juveniles to send to the adult system creates serious problems. I urge you to correct these problems in S. 1735. We need to address the problem of gangs in ways we know work better.
Sincerely, |
Campaign Launched: |
| Background Information |
1. BASIC POINTS
- Creating new ill-defined crimes will increase wrongful convictions.
This legislation creates new "gang" crimes for groups of people as few as three people and could be used to convict people of a felony for crimes other people commit. - Lengthening the period of time for which a person could be charged with a crime will increase the likelihood of false imprisonment.
Each of us has the right to a fair trial. If we lengthen the period of time for which a person could be charged with a violent crime beyond ten or more years, as this bill seeks, the prosecution may rely on the faded memories of eyewitnesses and unreliable evidence. This proposed legislation could therefore increase the likelihood that people are wrongfully convicted. - The death penalty's use should not be expanded.
This bill would allow the death penalty to be used for an additional seven federal crimes. There are numerous examples of people spending years -- and even decades -- on death row only to be exonerated. The expansion of the death penalty would increase the likelihood that innocent people will be sent to death row and even executed.
2. Read what human rights, civil rights, and children's rights leaders have to say about S. 1735.
Read the letter sent to Senators Feinstein and Hatch by the Children's Defense Fund, the National Urban League, Human Rights Watch, the ACLU, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), and scores of other groups.
3. Read what Father Gregory Boyle, successful and noted gang reformer, says about the S. 1735.
Father Boyle argues powerfully that the bill is the wrong solution and characterizes the bill as pandering, noting "We know what works...This bill does not fund what works well, only what plays well -- politically."
4. The Justice Policy Institute studied what happens when prosecutors, not judges, have discretion to put juveniles in the adult system.
The report finds racial discrimination and higher recidivism rates in Florida's sytem.
5. Read the bill.
