Just as was the case two years ago, lawmakers sitting down now to finalize a sprawling bill intended to supercharge the region’s economy will need to debate whether the package should also embrace a major criminal justice reform.

Senators once again want to use the biennial economic development legislation as the vehicle to increase the age of juvenile jurisdiction, a change that would allow many 18-year-olds accused of lower-level crimes to be tried in Juvenile Court instead of in the adult system.

Supporters have long argued that allowing 18-year-old offenders — who are often still in high school — to remain under the purview of the Department of Youth Services will better equip them for rehabilitation, lower recidivism rates, and shield teenagers from conviction records that can significantly damage their long-term employment and housing prospects.

Now, backers are hopeful that growing acceptance of the social and economic upsides, combined with new understanding of young adult brain development, means policymakers are on the verge of marshaling a critical mass of support for the policy.

Nichelle Sadler, executive director of the Training Center for Excellence at UTEC, an organization that works with young adults in the Merrimack Valley previously involved in the criminal justice system, said increasing the age of juvenile jurisdiction is “an issue that people understand more clearly” than they did even just a few years ago.

“There is a recognition that there’s something different about this population, and that in order for us to achieve what we all want, which is public safety, we have to look at alternatives that are maybe less traditional and less punitive,” Sadler said.

The Senate quietly tucked the policy rider into a larger economic development bill, adopting it as an amendment from Sen. Brendan Crighton with only an unrecorded voice vote and no commentary or debate. By doing so, senators kept the proposal on the table heading into a months-long stretch in which legislative negotiators will need to finalize the bill, buying time for backers to convince leaders in the House — which did not embrace any juvenile jurisdiction changes in its version of the bill — that the time for reform is now.

More Context

• With new term dawning, Spilka eyes K-12 funding reform, primary care overhaul (January 2025)
• Lawmakers eye expanding juvenile diversion to some violent offenses (June 2022)