A new state law in North Carolina expands the police’s authority to disclose photographs of juvenile suspects accused of murder and other violent crimes.
The bipartisan law seeks to aid law enforcement in locating and arresting juvenile suspects, for the same reason photos of adult suspects are made public. The legislation was passed as the state struggles with a rise in juvenile delinquency.
According to WLOS, state juvenile laws previously forbade the release of a juvenile suspect’s picture or mugshot by a judge or, in some cases, the police to take them into custody.
North Carolina was the final state to raise the age of a juvenile to 18 in December 2019, allowing most offenders under the age of 19 to be tried in juvenile court.
Eddie Caldwell, general counsel for the North Carolina Sheriff’s Association, told the outlet, “When you have a murderer on the run, a rapist on the run, or some other heinous criminal, the victims of the first crime need to know that everything is being done to catch them.” “When these individuals commit these heinous crimes, they forfeit a portion of the safeguards we would provide to other juveniles.”
Vicki Jayne, a longtime capital defender for the state of North Carolina, stated that the law makes it easier for law enforcement to disclose a suspect’s image to the media. It would also expedite the transfer of juveniles accused of committing violent crimes to adult court, which, according to Jayne, would further clog the judicial system.
North Carolina was the final state to raise the age of a juvenile to 18 in 2019, allowing nonviolent offenders under 18 to be tried in juvenile court.
Under the new law, a prosecutor may present a case to a grand jury, and if a juvenile is charged with murder, the case will be automatically prosecuted in adult court. Historically, the prosecutor determined whether a defendant would be prosecuted as an adult.
Michael Hall, the executive director of the Asheville-based nonprofit Generation 2 Generation, served 14 years in prison for attempted homicide and armed robbery. He opposes the law, arguing that enacting legislation to combat juvenile crime fails to address the underlying causes that led to the commission of violent crimes by adolescents.
“There is a need for certain juvenile offenses to be dealt with in a specific manner, possibly as adults,” Hall stated. “However, what is more important, arresting them or treating whatever led them to commit such crimes?”
“We arrest and convict them but do not treat them,” he continued. “With this demographic of young people, what they did is emphasized rather than what led to their actions.”
Hall stated that he ended up in prison due to the difficulties he encountered as an adolescent after his mother passed away, which caused him to develop anger issues.
“I needed to pause, reflect, and assess my life,” he said. “No matter where I looked, no one was available to tell me to slow down.”
The statute will go into effect on December 1.