Direct File bill passes Go; moves straight to Governor
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In the waning days and hours of the 2010 Colorado state legislative session, HB-1413–Concerning Juveniles Who Are Tried As Adults–passed both the House and the Senate. StopDirectFile.org endorses HB 1413 as a step in the right direction. As Senator Gail Schwartz recently pointed out in a Colorado Public Radio interview, “you carry a bill; you don’t marry a bill.” StopDirectFile.org wishes to thank Representative Claire Levy, Representative Mike May, Senator Kevin Lundberg, Senator Linda Newell and Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll for all of their efforts on HB 1413. Please write and thank them for their attentiveness to the issue of direct file and ask them to keep up the good work.
It is important to be clear about what the final version of HB 1413 actually does and doesn’t do. The bill summary states that 1413 deals with a district attorney’s power to direct file adult charges against children.
What House Bill 1413 does…
1. Changes the minimum age that defendants can be direct filed from 14 to 16 years, except in the case of first degree murder, second degree murder or a sex offense.
What that means for all intents and purposes is that a child can still be charged by a district attorney as an adult. StopDirectFile.org has relied heavily on the John Caudle case as the prevailing example of how unfair direct file is. Caudle, who was 14 when he allegedly killed his abusive parents, could still be charged as an adult and would still be subject to adult sentencing that might, in effect, put him in prison for life. Never mind the fact that if he had been an adult, he wouldn’t have been subject to his parents’ abuse and could have just left.
2. HB 1413 lists the criteria that the district attorney must consider in determining whether to direct file charges against a juvenile.
What the summary doesn’t say, but the bill does is that “the amount of weight given to each of the factors listed…is discretionary with the district attorney.” Further, “the insufficiency of any factor or set of factors shall not preclude the district attorney from charging by direct filing.”
What the bill doesn’t do…
1. The bill doesn’t end direct file (obviously)
2. The bill doesn’t deal with a district attorney’s ability to plea bargain with the threat of a possible adult sentence (the primary way direct file is used/abused).
So after all is said and done, DAs now have to think really hard about whether they should file adult charges. But it is still clearly up to them. HB 1413 codifies their ethical obligation to “pursue justice” but does not eliminate their conflict of interest as elected officials with political motives.
As far as Caudle’s situation is concerned, we’re simply playing Monopoly for all of the judicial process that’s available: Move straight to jail and do not pass Go.
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Meanwhile, John Caudle sits in isolation in the Rio Grande County jail waiting for trial. He’s allowed visitors twice a week for 15 minutes, behind glass, because that’s what the adult rules are I’ve been told. So, he sits alone all day, only occasional human contact and he hasn’t even had a trial yet.
Hi Jamie. You know, nobody has explained to me why rather than making such a hullabaloo about charging kids as adults, DAs don’t just push for juvenile sentence reform. If they think juvenile sentencing standards are so deminimis, why not push for juvenile sentencing standards that might have more teeth? We’ve set up a clear line in the sand: When you are 18, you become an adult. But rather than working within the structure that we’ve created, DAs seem to prefer to cross the line. Why? What purpose could they possibly have in advocating for such an irrational step?
I thought lawyers were supposed to be experts in logic…
I so agree with you Seth. I’ve often thought the very same thing. If the juvenile system isn’t tough enough for a juvenile then change it. Don’t just decide suddenly that a child who can’t vote, drive a car, get married or even live on his own is suddenly mature enough to make appropriate and wise decisions. Especially when many of these kids grew up in circumstances and with families where bad decisions were being made all the time. I just can’t understand the DA in the John Caudle case. As more facts about child abuse come out, the community is rallying around John, yet the DA is unmoved. I’ve said it before but the DA seems to be out for vengeance, not justice.