North Carolina has passed a new law granting police the power to release photos of juvenile murder suspects in certain situations. The bipartisan law is aimed at helping law enforcement locate and apprehend teenage suspects accused of violent crimes. The legislation comes as the state grapples with a rise in crimes committed by teenagers.
Previously, state juvenile laws prohibited the release of photos or mugshots of teenage suspects. However, House Bill 186, which was signed into law last week, now allows a judge or police to release a picture of a teenage suspect in efforts to facilitate their arrest. This brings the state in line with the practice of releasing photos of adult suspects to the public.
Eddie Caldwell, general counsel for the North Carolina Sheriff’s Association, explained the rationale behind the new law, stating that when there is a murderer, rapist, or other heinous criminal on the loose, the victims of the first crime need to know that everything possible is being done to catch the perpetrator. Caldwell believes that such individuals have already given up some of the protections provided to other juveniles due to the severity of their crimes.
Critics of the law, however, argue that it fails to address the underlying causes that lead juveniles to commit violent crimes. Michael Hall, who runs nonprofit organization Generation 2 Generation, spent 14 years in prison for attempted murder and armed robbery. He believes that while certain crimes committed by youth should be dealt with seriously, passing legislation to crack down on teenage crime does not address the root causes of their actions.
Hall suggests that the focus should not solely be on arresting and convicting young offenders but also on providing them with the necessary support and assistance to address the underlying issues that led them to commit crimes in the first place.
The new law also streamlines the process of transferring cases involving teenagers accused of committing violent crimes to adult court. Under the legislation, if a teenager is indicted with murder, the case will automatically be tried in adult court. Previously, it was up to the prosecutor to decide whether the accused would be tried as an adult or a juvenile.
While the law aims to aid law enforcement in locating and apprehending violent teenage suspects, opponents worry that it may clog up the court system even further. Vicki Jayne, a capital defender for the state of North Carolina, believes that the increased accessibility of a suspect’s picture to the media will speed up the process of trying teenagers in adult court, leading to a potential backlog of cases.
North Carolina, which was the last state to increase the age of a juvenile to 18, has been grappling with how best to handle crimes committed by teenagers. The new law marks an attempt to address this issue; however, it remains to be seen how effective it will be in practice and whether it will have the desired impact on reducing violent crime committed by juveniles.
