‘Seismic shift’: New law will reduce number of juveniles sent to adult court in Washington state
The Seattle Times
SARA JEAN GREEN APRIL 2, 2018
Robbing a convenience store at gunpoint or spraying bullets from a moving vehicle are the kinds of crimes that will no longer see 16- and 17-year-olds automatically sent to adult court — and likely, on to adult prison.
Gov. Jay Inslee recently signed legislation that represents what one lawmaker called “a seismic shift” in the state’s efforts to reform the juvenile-justice system. The new law removes a handful of crimes from the list of what are known as auto-decline offenses and extends juvenile jurisdiction for those specific crimes to age 25.
