Last month's American Bar Association Journal included an article explaining the position of Malcolm Young, who is a scholar at Northwestern School of Law. According to Young, more states should follow the lead of New York and take a more rehabilitative approach to solve prison system problems.
Young authored a report called “Controlling Corrections Costs in Illinois: lessons from the Coasts.” He argues that New York's pragmatic approach illustrates the premise that not all low-level offenders need to be locked up.
Some states treat low-level crimes the same way they treat other crimes, with jail-time. Other states focus on rehabilitating drug-users, instead of punishing them. If you have been arrested for a drug-offense or any other crime, you need a lawyer to protect you. Will the court send you to jail or rehab? The answer depends the laws of your state and the knowledge of your attorney.
Malcolm Young wants to see drug treatment, rehabilitation, and a reduction in minimum-mandatory sentences in Illinois.
Presumably, Young will be pleased to see new laws in Illinois, which emphasize more rehabilitation and less punishment.
Until January first, Illinois was one of the handful of states that typically try minors as adults in the criminal setting. In Connecticut, young persons age 16 and up are tried as adults, and it depends on the severity of the offense in states like Washington.
In Illinois as well, whether minors will be tried as adults now depends on the severity of the offense. Illinois will join the 38 other states that try minors charged with misdemeanor offenses in juvenile court, where rehabilitation is heavily emphasized. However, persons 17 years and older charged with a felony will still be tried as adults in Illinois.
Another law set to rehabilitate juvenile delinquents is the Redeploy Illinois Program. The Program will allow smaller Illinois counties the opportunity to apply for services to help troubled children where they are, instead of pushing them through the costly state youth prison system.
A third new Illinois law also takes a step back from the “tough-on-crime” approach. Public Act 96-0707, as it is called, provides for the automatic expungement of first-offense misdemeanor for juveniles when they turn 18 (or upon the completion of the sentence, whichever comes later).
These new reforms not withstanding, Malcolm Young is not the only one pleading for change. The Illinois prison system is still understaffed and lacks a rehabilitative focus, according to the results of a two-year study reported by the John Howard Association of Illinois.
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