On March 29, primary voting will take place for the state of Louisiana. There are several amendments to the state constitution that will be voted on. Proposed Amendment No. 3 would permit legislators to increase the number of felonies for which minors between the ages of 14 and 17 can face adult charges. A two-thirds majority in both the Louisiana House of Representatives and the Louisiana Senate would be needed to make any modifications.
Voters who value any semblance of consistency in our legal system should vote “no” on proposed Amendment No. 3. The specific text of the amendment reads, “Do you support an amendment to provide the legislature the authority to determine which felony crimes, when committed by a person under the age of seventeen, may be transferred for criminal prosecution as an adult?”
This amendment speaks to the staggering double standard of what an adult is in our legal system. It is well established that the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for rational decision-making, is not completely developed until the mid 20s. But society has decided it would not be feasible to delay adulthood that far. So, we are met with a set of standards that seem only to punish younger people.
For example, the military does not care about waiting until our brains are fully developed. They send recruiters to schools in poorer areas, where people have fewer options for socioeconomic advancement.
The government has decided that citizens can begin having a say in the officials who represent them at age 18. However, those same people would pay taxes on any income before that age. In essence, teenagers under 18 with a part-time job are old enough to give the government money, but too immature to select the politicians spending it.
And once they reach age 18, they are mature enough to vote but need to wait another three years to legally purchase alcohol. If you feel confused right now, good. You should be. This is a nonsensical way to run a society.
This brings us to proposed Amendment No. 3, and what constitutes an adult. This amendment seeks to punish teenagers under 18 equally as adults for what will likely be the worst mistake of their lives. The government’s obsession with punishing people as adults whom they already have decided are not mature enough to live as adults is a situation where children lose both ways.
And, in Louisiana, minors can already be tried as adults for certain crimes. This amendment wants to give the far-right legislature even more discretion over which crimes minors can be prosecuted as adults and sent to adult prisons. No part of this proposal supports what ought to be a guiding light of a justice system: the rehabilitation of criminals.
Treating a minor as an adult when they have committed a serious crime is essentially throwing in the towel on their life. It is saying that at such a young age, they are beyond redemption. We should not be approving of such a system.
One of the most common arguments for treating minors as adults in this fashion is to imagine it happened to you. Imagine if some 16-year-old kid killed your brother, your father or your friend. Wouldn’t you want to see him thrown in jail for the rest of his life?
Most people would say of course. Many would say they would want the punishment for that person to be both cruel and unusual. But that is why we have a formal justice system. That is why the families of victims do not make sentencing decisions.
Proposed Amendment No. 3 wants to weaponize the anger of losing a loved one to empower the legislature. It wants to weaponize that feeling of knowing someone close to you was the victim of a heinous crime. Hopefully, none of us will ever feel that way. But proposed Amendment No. 3 simply isn’t based in any kind of logical, compassionate or consistent manner with which to make the distinction between children and adults. On March 29, vote “no” on proposed Amendment No. 3.
