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Senate Judiciary Weighs Federal Juvenile Crime Bill

HeadlineJun 10, 1997

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider its version of a federal juvenile crime bill that would allow children as young as 14 to be incarcerated with adult prisoners. Law enforcement officials will speak out against what they say is an excessively harsh policy that would make the crime problem worse, not better. They will be speaking at a San Francisco press conference tomorrow, which will coincide with the publication of full-page ads critical of the bill in the Washington Times that will read: “Lock up a 13-year-old with murderers, rapists and robbers, and guess what he’ll want to be when he grows up.” Signed by 22 law enforcement officials from across the country, the ad will be distributed tomorrow on Capitol Hill by a group of Washington, D.C., youth to every senator and congressperson. Among those who will be speaking at the news conference, former San Jose Police Chief Joseph McNamara and San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan.

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