Advocates block youth mandatory minimums

Advocates block youth mandatory minimums
Controversial "Audrie's Law" amended to pass committee
Under pressure from CJCJ and other youth advocates, California State Senator Jim Beall has amended SB 838 (also known as "Audrie's Law") to remove the provision that would have set a new precedent for mandatory minimums in the state's juvenile justice system.
After the bill passed unanimously through the state Senate on May 28, advocates worked to educate state assembly members and citizens on the dangers of mandatory minimum sentences. At the June 17 hearing of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, committee members heard expert testimony against SB 838 from Patti Lee, San Francisco's Deputy Public Defender and a CJCJ board member. More than a dozen organizations — including CJCJ, Human Rights Watch, and the Youth Law Center — also lined up to voice their opposition to the bill.
A week after the hearing, Sen. Beall removed the mandatory minimum provision and the committee passed the amended bill unanimously.
Thank you to all who contacted your representatives and helped protect our juvenile justice system from these punitive and ineffective policies!

Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
40 Boardman Place San Francisco,
CA 94103 Phone: (415) 621-5661