Brett Merfish had a list of reasons why Texas should raise the age of criminal responsibility to 18. She pointed to research showing that states that had already adopted the practice saw crime and recidivism reduced and better outcomes for the juveniles and their families.
She also noted that short-term expenses associated with the change were far less than forecast, and that, over the long term, spending on treatment and intervention is far more cost effective than throwing teens behind bars.
But one reason jumped out, both for its simplicity and as a matter of fairness.
[For more of this story, written by John Holland, go to http://jjie.org/2017/03/27/tex...ep-on-raise-the-age/]
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