Florida has designated the wrong authority to decide whether minors who commit crimes should be charged as juveniles or adults. Since 1994, the state grants that power to prosecutors when the ultimate decision should rest exclusively with judges, as it does in 32 states. There is a natural inclination for prosecutors to charge at the harshest levels available in order to extract cooperation, a guilty plea or score political points. Judges would be more inclined to make an arms-length determination based on the merits of each young defendant's case.
In recent years, our state has witnessed numerous examples of overzealous charging by prosecutors, such as in the case of Lionel Tate who was charged as an adult for a crime he committed at the age of 12. Tate was sentenced to life without parole for killing a 6-year-old playmate, but was released in January after his conviction was overturned and he accepted a plea bargain.
And there is another way this charging power is distorting the criminal justice system. In Miami-Dade County, prosecutors are manipulating their way around a state law that limits to three weeks the amount of time juveniles can be held in pretrial detention. The law was created to prevent young people from languishing in juvenile detention facilities while awaiting trial. Once 21 days is up, the juvenile must be transferred back into the custody of his or her family.
But in Miami-Dade, prosecutors are strong-arming children into waiving their rights to release by threatening to charge them as adults if they don't agree. Miami Republican Rep. J.C. Planas, a former Miami-Dade prosecutor, wants this practice to stop. He says some children have been jailed for up to six months due to this waiver abuse in facilities that provide no treatment or counseling programs. But Planas is backing off introducing legislation banning it because Miami-Dade prosecutors told him they would charge more minors as adults if they lose access to the waivers.
This is a remarkable abuse of power. The decision to put a child into the adult criminal justice system should be based solely on the merits of case. It should not, under any circumstances, be used as a bargaining chip to coerce minors into signing away their rights. Nor should it be used as a veiled threat to persuade a state lawmaker to change course.
The issue is getting more attention since the death of 17-year-old Omar Paisley in June at the Miami-Dade Juvenile Detention Center. Paisley, who was picked up for slashing another teen's face during a fight, was told by a prosecutor to waive his right to be released from detention after 3 weeks or face the prospect of being charged as an adult. Paisley did what most of us would do if given that choice and waived his right. Three months later he died in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice, when his appendix burst and guards ignored his pleas for medical attention.
Prosecutors in other counties, including Broward, Pinellas and Pasco, do not engage in this form of extortion. It is bad enough that Florida has one of the highest rates in the nation in charging juveniles as adults; now it appears the motivation for some of these charges is suspect. The system needs an overhaul, and Planas says he expects increased calls for some form of judicial oversight in the charging process. "Perhaps a judicial veto," he says. Planas will be exploring that legislative option this session. His efforts should be supported.
