Lawmakers consider bill to prohibit prosecuting anyone younger than 12
The measure would also eliminate the minimum stay for youths committed to the state s only youth detention center, and would commit no one younger than age 14.
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In 2019, 16 children under the age of 12 were charged with a crime in Maine, three of them younger than 10. In 2020, eight children under 12 faced criminal charges. While some were serious crimes such as arson, most would be misdemeanors for adults, such as assault or theft.
Legislators are considering a proposal that would bring those numbers to zero by setting the minimum age of criminal prosecution at 12 years old. As of last year, Maine would be one of only three states to do so, according to data from the National Juvenile Defender Center.
Eye on Augusta: Mills Administration Bows to Business, Proposes Massive Tax Breaks for Profitable Companies
by Andy OâBrien Tuesday, February 16, 2021 8:51 AM
Andy O’Brien is communications director at Maine AFL-CIO. He is a former managing editor of The Free Press and a former state legislator. His Eye on Augusta column appears every other week in The Free Press. Governor Janet Mills finally caved to pressure from business groups last week when she proposed an $82 million tax break on federal relief companies received during the pandemic. Under federal law, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans are not subject to a federal tax, but they are taxed under state law and business groups have been calling on the Mills administration to conform to the federal tax law.