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On World AIDS Day, New Mexico activists say more money is needed for prevention; ND farmers still navigate corporate land-ownership policy maze; Unpaid caregivers in ME receive limited financial grants.

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken urges Israel to protect civilians amid Gaza truce talks, New York Rep. George Santos defends himself as his expected expulsion looms and CDC director warns about respiratory illness as flu season begins.

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Congress has iced the Farm Bill, but farmer advocates argue some portions are urgent, the Hoosier State is reaping big rewards from wind and solar, and opponents react to a road through Alaska's Brooks Range, long a dream destination for hunters and anglers.

Hearing Today for Bill To Ban Prosecution of Children Under 12

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Tuesday, June 12, 2018   

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Juvenile-justice groups are planning to pack a public hearing today in Sacramento - to support a bill that would ban criminal prosecution of children under 12 unless they're charged with murder or rape.

Senate Bill 439 will be considered by the Assembly Public Safety Committee starting at 9 A.M.

Patricia Lee, president of the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center, says California currently has no minimum age for prosecution in the juvenile system.

"They're babies," she says. "They're not competent to understand the nature of proceedings. They cannot assist in their defense. It's a no-brainer."

Statistics show that in 2015, California authorities made 687 referrals to prosecute children under 12, including one five-year-old and 12 seven-year-olds. However, that constitutes less than one percent of the 87,000 juvenile arrests made in the state that year. Opponents of the law say prosecutors need to have discretion in deciding whether a child should be criminally prosecuted.

Lee suggests that children aged 11 and under accused of crimes should be offered help from the child-welfare, mental-health and behavioral-health systems because the juvenile-justice system isn't designed for them.

"When we see children being brought in, 11 and 10, sometimes 9 years old, the detention facilities are not equipped to work with these youths," she explains, "We see the very young who are brought into custody totally deteriorate."

This same bill, sponsored by state Senators Holly Mitchell D-Los Angeles and Ricardo Lara D-Bell Gardens, was introduced last year as a part of a package of six juvenile-justice reforms. Five of them passed, and this one was held over until this year's legislative session.


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