Reply to MCPD released 14 and 16 year olds who committed armed robbery in Gaithersburg to their parents

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Reply to "MCPD released 14 and 16 year olds who committed armed robbery in Gaithersburg to their parents"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Because Maryland passed this:
https://www.aecf.org/blog/maryland-enacts-sweeping-youth-justice-reforms

There is an effort currently underway to make it a bit more strict:
https://www.wbaltv.com/article/juvenile-justice-reform-preliminary-approval-senate-bill-744/60027395

But as you can see quoted in the article above, not all are in favor:

[i]Criminalizing children doesn't improve public safety. The way to improve public safety is to address the child's needs very early, not stigmatizing them with criminalization, not cops putting them in handcuffs, not putting them in cages or cells, not putting them in prison.[/i][/quote]

They aren't being criminalized, though.  They are being referred for services, which include mental health and substance misuse screening.  The State services are woefully inadequate, for certain, but they aren't criminalizing kids. Almost no children are detained, and the ones who are either present a serious safety threat to a family member and have nowhere else to live, or are accused of an act so egregious, they need to be detained.

For example, what do you do with the 13 year old who is molesting his 5 year old sister?  Release him to his parents?  I certainly would not want that.  And don't assume parents always work to protect the victimized kids.  Sometimes they do not.  Often they have their own mental illness or substance abuse issues to deal with.  Often they are in denial.  Often, they are abusers themselves.  [/quote]

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