DENVER — How young is too young to be charged with a crime?
That’s a question Colorado lawmakers are debating.
Under current state law, Colorado prosecutors can charge someone suspected of a crime if they are at least 10 years old.
Lawmakers are considering a bipartisan bill to raise the minimum age to be charged and prosecuted for a crime to 13.
“This is a great opportunity for us to prevent future victims and future crimes,” said State Rep. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, D-Denver, one of the bipartisan bill’s chief sponsors.
Gonzales-Gutierrez spent much of her career working with young people, including those in the juvenile justice system, and says many never received the help and intervention they needed when they were younger.
“Families were being told your kid needs to get in trouble to get help,” said Gonzales-Gutierrez. “And that's just really backward. That's not the way that we should be treating our young people.”
Gonzales-Gutierrez said kids of color often bear the brunt of the juvenile justice system.
“Our current system is penalizing and traumatizing already penalized and traumatized kids,” said Gonzales-Gutierrez. “It would be inhumane for us not to act if there is a better way, and all the evidence is showing us that there is a better way. Our current system grooms kids to commit more crime.”
Under the proposal, 10, 11, and 12-year-olds accused of crimes would not go through the juvenile court as they do now.
Instead, they would be referred to outside agencies that make up collaborative management programs, or CMPs, to work with them and their families to improve their lives so they stay out of trouble.
There are 49 CMPs in Colorado. The bill would require every county to create a CMP or partner with an existing one.
“When we're catching this at the front end, when kids are young and impressionable, this is the best time to have that influence and show that change your behavior,” said Gonzales-Gutierrez.
The program would not apply to children who are accused of homicide. Those cases would remain under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
Opponents of the bill include many members of law enforcement and district attorneys who say kids between the ages of 10 and 12 can and do commit violent crimes and should be held accountable.
Data from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation shows around 80 children between the ages of 10 and 12 were arrested for violent crimes last year, which included aggravated assaults and non-consensual sexual offenses.
Their arrests represented less than one percent of all violent crime arrests in Colorado.
Despite the small number of arrests in this age group, opponents who testified against the bill believe it will cause significant harm, and they described the network of outside agencies the program would rely on as impractical and unproven.
“My concern lies here with that small group of kids that cannot be in the community and the idea to finding alternatives for them without building an appropriate system is too great a risk,” said Alexis King, the district attorney for Colorado’s First Judicial District, which includes Jefferson and Gilpin counties.
Deputy Chief James Martin with the Pueblo Police Department called the proposal “damaging and dangerous.”
“Victims will be left without trust that the offender will be held accountable and without any assurance they and others will be safe,” Martin told lawmakers.
Gonzales-Gutierrez says victims will still be able to access existing victim services and will also be able to work with outside CMP agencies and receive help much faster than going through the courts.
The bill changes the minimum age at which someone can be charged in municipal court to 13.
It also eliminates the ability of the juvenile court to transfer 12 and 13-year-olds to adult court.
In addition to Gonzales-Gutierrez, other primary sponsors of the bill include State Rep. Ryan Armogost, R-District 64 (Larimer and Weld counties); State Sen. Cleave Simpson, R-District 6 (Alamosa, Archuleta, Conejos, Costilla, Dolores, La Plata, Mineral, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, Rio Grande, Saguache, San Juan and San Miguel counties); and State Sen. James Coleman, D-Denver.
The bill passed a crucial vote in the Colorado House of Representatives on Saturday and must go through one more reading before heading to the Colorado Senate.
