RALEIGH, N.C. — General Assembly members learned last year they could undertake a dramatic overhaul to North Carolina's criminal justice system without being labeled soft on crime by political opponents.
With near-unanimous backing, the Legislature passed Justice Reinvestment initiatives — billed as a way to save money, eliminate the need for thousands of additional prison beds and reduce the percentage of repeat offenders. Criminal justice reforms had been paralyzed for years because lawmakers didn't want to be perceived as coddling criminals.
"We brought Republicans and Democrats together to make this happen," Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue said last summer when she signed the Justice Reinvestment bill into law.
Now proponents of a change that would divert more young suspects away from the adult court and prison system into the juvenile system hope for the same bipartisan outcome. But that level of widespread support hasn't quite arrived for raising the age for juvenile court jurisdiction.
North Carolina and New York are the only two states where 16- and 17-year-olds are automatically prosecuted in adult court. Backers of changing the law say too many people are getting weighed down with adult criminal records for youthful indiscretions that are damaging their ability to get a job or succeed. Juvenile records, in contrast, aren't public.
The supporters cite data from other states showing re-arrest rates are higher for young people tried in adult courts compared to those tried in juvenile courts.
"It's not a political issue. It's doing what's right for our youth," Durham County Chief District Court Judge Marcia Morey said at a rally late last week at the Legislative Building to promote "raise the age" legislation.
Some lawmakers have worried about proposals over the years for fear they gloss over the crimes of older teenagers who should be tried in adult court. Others such as the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association have been concerned there's been no detailed plan to prepare for the transfer of youths into the juvenile justice system.
"I'm not inclined in moving in that direction at this point," Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said in a brief interview. "I'd be interested in some discussion about it, but nothing I've heard so far would convince me that's — at least for me — where I think we should go."
For years, raising the juvenile jurisdiction age was largely considered an issue supported by liberal-leaning groups and Democrats in the Legislature who supported a more therapeutic approach to corrections. A bill filed in 2009 to raise the age of adult jurisdiction to 18 had 44 sponsors in the House, only one which was a Republican.
The Legislature got more buy-in from Republicans following the creation of a task force that looked closely at the issue and made recommendations. When new bills were filed in 2011, two of three primary sponsors in the Senate and three of four in the House were Republican. The GOP took majorities in both chambers after the 2010 elections.
"We have an obligation to ensure that children and teenagers are treated fairly and in ways that protect their ability to succeed in the future," House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, said in supporting debate on the issue.
The 2011 bills scaled back the scope so that 16- and 17-year-olds accused of the most violent felonies would still be tried as adults. Judges would continue to have authority to transfer children age 13 and over accused of felonies to adult court.
Rep. Marilyn Avila, R-Wake, a primary sponsor of the 2011 House bill, said there's a new bill sitting in a House judiciary committee that would keep 16- and 17-year-olds in juvenile court for misdemeanors only — all felonies would still be transferred to adult court.
The age of jurisdiction would increase in six-month intervals annually starting in mid-2016 before reaching 18 in mid-2019. Avila said a longer delay would give lawmakers more time to find money to pay for the shift to more juvenile justice programs.
She said a staff analysis shows carrying out the bill will cost $9 million in the first year and increase in later years. Avila believes the cost will be less because she envisions treatments for young people adjudicated as delinquent shifting away from youth development centers to more community-based assistance.
Legislative staff analysts estimated in 2009 about 28,000 16- and 17-year-olds charged in adult court during the 2007-08 fiscal year would have been accused of misdemeanors in juvenile court had the law changed.
The "raise the age" movement hopes to get a boost this week when a Texas state representative and the director of a criminal justice initiative at a conservative-leaning Texas think tank visit the Legislative Building to support changing the law.
Lawmakers may be more influenced by experiences like those of Cydney Shirley, who was arrested in 2010 at age 17 after what her mother calls a minor scuffle at North Gaston High School with another female classmate. She was charged as an adult with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.
The charge was ultimately dismissed after she performed community service, but Shirley, now 19, still has it on her criminal record. She and her mother were among about 150 people who lobbied lawmakers last week to support raising the age.
"It's just a lot of peripheral damage that I don't think the legislators are considering," said Teresa Shirley, Cydney's mother.