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October 22, 2001
All grown up? Teens, policymakers
discuss adult trials for juveniles
California high school students and
state leaders will discuss whether juveniles should sometimes
be prosecuted as adults from 1 to 2 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 25
in the State Capitol room 437.
The town hall meeting is sponsored by the LegiSchool Project
at California State University, Sacramento.
It will focus on Proposition 21, which was approved by California
voters in March 2000 and allows prosecutors to charge young
people between the ages of 14 and 17 as adults for certain
offenses. The California Supreme Court is currently reviewing
whether Proposition 21 is constitutional.
Questions to be addressed include: How far should society
go in holding minors accountable violent crimes? At a time
when juvenile crime is decreasing, have policymakers and voters
overreacted? If found constitutional, are certain groups more
likely to be subject to Proposition 21 than others?
Among the panelists will be Bruce Chan, chief consultant for
the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Panelists and audience
participants will also include students from Elk Creek High
in Elk Creek, Monroe Law and Government Magnet in North Hills,
Paradise High in Paradise, Sacramento Lutheran High in Sacramento
and Salisbury High in Red Bluff. Thousands of other students
in California will view the meeting on the California Channel
or on videotape. Paula Gardner, a professor from the CSUS
College of Education, will moderate.
The LegiSchool Project is an award-winning civic education
project of CSUS and the State Legislature, administered by
the Center for California Studies. The project's mission is
to engage young people in public policy and state government.
More information is available by contacting Kolleen Ostgaard,
LegiSchool project director, at (916) 278-6906 or by visiting
www.csus.edu/calst/legischool.htm. Media assistance is available
by contacting CSUS public affairs at (916) 278-6156.
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For
further information send E-Mail to infodesk@csus.edu or
contact
Public Affairs (916)
278-6156.
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