One of the most disturbing amendments approved by state legislators at their third special session on tax reform is guaranteed to end up sending more juveniles to adult prisons. The legislation removes 15 crimes from the constitution that could send them to adult prisons so legislators can add more crimes to that list.

Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, at the Legislature’s second special session on crime earlier this year sponsored a bill that killed the “Raise the Age” law that limited the number of people under 18 who are sent to adult prisons. She also sponsored the bill removing those 15 crimes at the just-ended third special session.

The Louisiana Illuminator in an Oct. 14 news report explained what happened when the Raise the Age law was repealed. It said district attorneys and parishes in rural areas have struggled to find places to hold underage suspects they arrest because they don’t operate their own local juvenile detention centers.

Many of those underage suspects were sent to facilities in other parishes far from their homes and to facilities in Mississippi and Alabama, which  is expensive for local parishes. The Illuminator said while state law now classifies 17-year-olds to be adults, federal law doesn’t.

Because of that conflict, some sheriffs have been unwilling to house 17-year-olds in adult jails because they don’t have enough space to comply with federal regulations.

If teens under 18 have to be housed, they belong in juvenile detention centers, not adult jails.

An official with the state Office of Juvenile Justice said at the opening of a Lafayette juvenile detention center, “This is the way to try to curtail juvenile crime.” She added that the goal of the center is to “keep our children in the community.”

The Advocate said the LaMARC center in Lafayette was modeled after a similar program that has been operating successfully for more than 10 years — the Calcasieu Parish Office of Juvenile Justice Services.

The center will provide 90-day case management and links to local services, along with evidence-based assessments and screenings for youth who are first-time misdemeanor offenders or who are deemed at risk of delinquency.

The program manager at the new center said, “The goal is to minimize formal involvement in the juvenile justice system through early intervention, comprehensive assessment, and coordinated access to appropriate services for underserved youth.”

The Advocate wrote about a youngster in Lafayette that is “focused on the future”  because of what he has done at the parish’s detention center. Braxton Francis, 17, was there after being arrested for attempted second-degree murder in June of 2023.

Last Friday, Francis became the first person to ever graduate from high school at Lafayette’s juvenile jail. The newspaper said the emotional ceremony was attended by the school superintendent, the city’s mayor-president and news media along with his family, teacher and facility administration.

Francis said, “I believe that the support that I received from my family and friends and everyone around me helped me become the man that I wanted to be.”

Don’t think for a minute that Francis is going home scot-free. He pleaded not guilty in December 2023 to one felony count of attempted second-degree murder. His case continues to work through the 15^th Judicial District Court, but the changes in his life may help him at his Dec. 5 pretrial hearing.

The victory here is the fact that Francis was able to spend his confinement in a juvenile detention center, not in an adult jail where he wouldn’t have had access to an education, psychological help and a more positive outlook on life.

Alishia Fulton, Braxton’s mother, wishes for her son what every parent wishes for their children.

“I’m very proud of my son that he made it and he reached his goal and he was successful,” Fulton said through a sign language interpreter. “And he’ll go on to have a good life.”

The Illuminator said three regions in the state are poised to get some funding to open new juvenile detention centers that would serve 21 parishes and perhaps one more.

The ideal, of course, would be to help troubled juveniles feel supported and thrive in their homes, schools and communities. If that isn’t possible, juvenile detention centers are definitely much better than adult jails.

I hope the state’s voters on March 29, 2025, reject Sen. Cloud’s amendment that will definitely send more juveniles to adult prisons.

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jim.beam.press@gmail.com.

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