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State Representative Sheldon Johnson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4201
For more information contact: Ted Modrich 651-296-5809
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Republicans seek to try 10 year olds as adults
February 10, 2011 (ST. PAUL) — Today the Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee heard testimony on HF 306, authored by Rep. Westrom (R – Elbow Lake) a bill that would allow children as young as 10 years old to be tried as adults for certain violent crimes.
State Rep. Sheldon Johnson (DFL – St. Paul) spoke out against the bill in committee today. Johnson, a retired Ramsey County Corrections worker with more than thirty years working in the state corrections system, says that the bill is another example of the majority’s misplaced priorities.
“There is no benefit to enacting the bill as it is currently written," Rep. Johnson said. “ 10 and 11 year olds are in no position to be tried as adults and we should be working on making Minnesota first in the nation in educating our kids, not in sending them to prison.”
As a former corrections worker with a master’s degree in psychology and extensive experience working with both juveniles and adults, Rep. Johnson has expert insight into the development of children.
“Young children have different brain development and research has shown that their ability to reason doesn’t develop until they’re older,” Johnson said. “To think that we’re going to judge children by the same standards as adults is terrifically bad criminal justice policy and I’ll do whatever I can to oppose it.”
The Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee is scheduled to hear more testimony and vote on the bill next Tuesday, February 15 at 10:15 AM.
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