05/02/2025
Shreveport Republican Senator Alan Seabaugh's bill that seeks to authorize district courts to handle felony cases involving juveniles aged 15 and older has been met with fierce opposition from critics, who draw parallels with the rejected Amendment 3, which was defeated on the March 29 ballot.
If passed, the amendment would have allowed the Louisiana Legislature to determine which specific felony crimes would result in a juvenile being tried as an adult.
According to NAACP State President Michael McClanahan, the Louisiana juvenile court system is broken and, to his knowledge, has never been addressed. He noted that if the state had taken steps to reform the juvenile system, the need for Seabaugh's legislation, which would try juveniles in adult court rather than juvenile court, would not exist.
"There's a reason for adult courts, and that's to deal with adults," McClanahan said. "They understand, they go get trained in juvenile procedures and juvenile thinking. They have psychologists, all of that, they have access to that can deal with that. Now you're telling adults who've been dealing with adults all of this time, now they have to deal with juveniles, and most of them have an adult citizen mentality as judges."
McClanahan stated the juvenile court judges receive training to access resources that prevent juveniles from entering adult jails and courts, which is the main objective of maintaining separate courts.
Critics argue the bill mirrors the recently rejected Amendment 3 and will lead to harsher treatment of juveniles, particularly Black and brown youth.
