Plain English Breakdown
The official bill summary text regarding minors previously convicted in adult court appears to have a line break error ('age and was previously...'), making that specific provision difficult to verify with certainty.
Juvenile Justice Changes for Resentencing Limits and Court Transfers
This law adds new reasons why some young people cannot ask to have their life sentences changed, and it lets prosecutors move certain cases involving 14- or 15-year-olds from juvenile court to adult criminal court.
What This Bill Does
- Prohibits people sentenced as minors for more than one murder in the same trial from asking courts to review their sentence.
- Blocks individuals who committed a mass shooting, as defined by law, while under age 18 from seeking a new sentencing hearing.
- Stops those who killed someone on school property or at a place of worship from petitioning for resentencing if they were minors when the crime happened.
- Allows district attorneys to move cases involving 14- and 15-year-olds accused of certain specified offenses into adult criminal court.
Who It Names or Affects
- People under age 18 at the time of their crime who are serving life sentences without parole.
- Minors aged 14 or 15 accused of specific serious offenses listed in the law.
- District attorneys who decide whether to move a case from juvenile court to adult criminal court.
Terms To Know
- Recall and resentencing
- A legal process where a person asks a judge to take back their original sentence and give them a new one.
- Mass shooting
- An offense defined by law involving multiple shootings or victims in a single event, as referenced in the bill.
- Court of criminal jurisdiction
- The adult criminal court system, as opposed to the juvenile justice system.
Limits and Unknowns
- The text does not list every specific offense that allows a district attorney to transfer a 14- or 15-year-old's case.
- The exact definition of 'mass shooting' used in this law is referenced but not fully explained in the provided summary.