Utah's Governor Gary Herbert Declares October Juvenile Justice Awareness Monthustice Awareness Month

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On Friday, Gary R. Herbert, Utah’s Governor since 2009, officially proclaimed October “Juvenile Justice Awareness Month”, acknowledging that “the juvenile justice system is best equipped to work with teenagers in making meaningful changes that maximize opportunities for youth offenders to realize their full potential.” This proclamation is part of a movement of positive changes for youth justice in Utah. Indeed earlier this year, in its 2015 general session, the state’s legislature passed a bill that reduced the number of felonies for which 16 year-old kids would face Utah district (adult) court jurisdiction. One of Governor Herbert’s stated priorities being education, he regularly calls for youth to be agents “for positive change”. Accordingly, by keeping children out of the adult criminal justice system and giving them the tools to rehabilitate and turn their lives around, they are more likely to become agents for positive change. The Utah Governor’s proclamation is one of many resolutions and declarations that have been passed all over the country, showing an increasing and widespread support for juvenile justice reform; support that we hope one day will fully prevent youths from being tried, sentenced and incarcerated as adults. Despite this important step forward, Utah still has a long way to go, as it is for example one of the few states still ignoring or refusing to comply with federal guidelines intended to prevent sexual assault in prisons. The Prison Rape Elimination Act is a key piece of legislation for guaranteeing children’s basic safety in prison, since one of its 4 main requirements is to keep youth under 18 strictly separated from adults. However, for “budgetary” reasons, Utah has so far refused to apply this federal law. We can hope that Utah will go further on the path towards youth justice and adopt more important reforms soon.

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Utah’s Governor Gary Herbert declares October Juvenile Justice Awareness Monthustice Awareness Month

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On Friday, Gary R. Herbert, Utah’s Governor since 2009, officially proclaimed October “Juvenile Justice Awareness Month”, acknowledging that “the juvenile justice system is best equipped to work with teenagers in making meaningful changes that maximize opportunities for youth offenders to realize their full potential.” This proclamation is part of a movement of positive changes for youth justice in Utah. Indeed earlier this year, in its 2015 general session, the state’s legislature passed a bill that reduced the number of felonies for which 16 year-old kids would face Utah district (adult) court jurisdiction. One of Governor Herbert’s stated priorities being education, he regularly calls for youth to be agents “for positive change”. Accordingly, by keeping children out of the adult criminal justice system and giving them the tools to rehabilitate and turn their lives around, they are more likely to become agents for positive change. The Utah Governor’s proclamation is one of many resolutions and declarations that have been passed all over the country, showing an increasing and widespread support for juvenile justice reform; support that we hope one day will fully prevent youths from being tried, sentenced and incarcerated as adults. Despite this important step forward, Utah still has a long way to go, as it is for example one of the few states still ignoring or refusing to comply with federal guidelines intended to prevent sexual assault in prisons. The Prison Rape Elimination Act is a key piece of legislation for guaranteeing children’s basic safety in prison, since one of its 4 main requirements is to keep youth under 18 strictly separated from adults. However, for “budgetary” reasons, Utah has so far refused to apply this federal law. We can hope that Utah will go further on the path towards youth justice and adopt more important reforms soon.

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77 views1 page

Utah's Governor Gary Herbert Declares October Juvenile Justice Awareness Monthustice Awareness Month

Original Title:

Utah’s Governor Gary Herbert declares October Juvenile Justice Awareness Monthustice Awareness Month

Uploaded by

aturnercfyj

Description:

On Friday, Gary R. Herbert, Utah’s Governor since 2009, officially proclaimed October “Juvenile Justice Awareness Month”, acknowledging that “the juvenile justice system is best equipped to work with teenagers in making meaningful changes that maximize opportunities for youth offenders to realize their full potential.” This proclamation is part of a movement of positive changes for youth justice in Utah. Indeed earlier this year, in its 2015 general session, the state’s legislature passed a bill that reduced the number of felonies for which 16 year-old kids would face Utah district (adult) court jurisdiction. One of Governor Herbert’s stated priorities being education, he regularly calls for youth to be agents “for positive change”. Accordingly, by keeping children out of the adult criminal justice system and giving them the tools to rehabilitate and turn their lives around, they are more likely to become agents for positive change. The Utah Governor’s proclamation is one of many resolutions and declarations that have been passed all over the country, showing an increasing and widespread support for juvenile justice reform; support that we hope one day will fully prevent youths from being tried, sentenced and incarcerated as adults. Despite this important step forward, Utah still has a long way to go, as it is for example one of the few states still ignoring or refusing to comply with federal guidelines intended to prevent sexual assault in prisons. The Prison Rape Elimination Act is a key piece of legislation for guaranteeing children’s basic safety in prison, since one of its 4 main requirements is to keep youth under 18 strictly separated from adults. However, for “budgetary” reasons, Utah has so far refused to apply this federal law. We can hope that Utah will go further on the path towards youth justice and adopt more important reforms soon.

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Gubernor Declaration Wereas, the juvenile justice system's role is t rebablitate offenders who are under the age of 18 in the least restrictive seting through treating all youth individually and meeting their needs while holding them accountable and ‘maintaining public safety; Wibereas, as has ben shown by research and acknowledged by the U.S. Supreme Court, adokescent are developmentally diferent from adults, and, consequently, many state and federal laws probibit youth from undertaking adult responsibilities; ‘Bereas, a number of laws allowing the prosecution of youth as adults were enacted prior to studies, conducted bby the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Office of Juwenile Justice and Delinguency Prevention, which demonstrate that tenagers prosecuted in the adult justice system are more likely to commit a future crime than those who are retained in the juvenile justice sytem; ‘Blyerens, adolescents who are placed under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court system are entitled fo competent ‘hgal counsel who specialize in representing minors and to age-appropriate services, such as edvcation and mental bealth services, while remaining close to their families; ‘Bihereas, she juvenile justice system is bet equipped to work with teenagers in making meaningful changes that maximize opportunities for youth offenders to realize their full potential, thas reducing the likelbood of future and increasingly serious offenses, and mitigating barriers minors with criminal records may face with regard to attaining education and employment; ‘Whereas, reducing disproportionate minority contact within the juvenile justice system is a core protection ofthe Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act and an issue the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinguency Prevention works ‘proactively to combat; and ‘Wherens, the state of Utah applauds the work of the juvenile justice system and recognizes the valuable contributions of the thousands of professionals who serve in the juvenile justice system in Utab, enabling our youth offenders to susceed through intervention, supervision, and rehabilitation programs while ensuring public safety: lata, therefore, 1, Gary R. Herbert, governor ofthe state of Utab, do hereby declare October 2015 as Sntenile Instice Atvareness Month J Mebat— Gary R. Herbert Governor

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