Story and photos by Julie Reynolds Martinez The small crowd carrying signs outside the county courthouse this week was classic funky Santa Cruz, folks milling about in T-shirts emblazoned with rasta and LGBTQ-themed logos, tie-dye and boho styles. But in this era of national protest over racial injustice, the protesters did not seek to reduce sentencing or end mass incarceration. Instead, they demanded legislators amend or repeal a 2018 law that prohibits 14- and 15-year-olds from being tried in adult court. Inside the courthouse, a young man who committed one of the town’s most shocking murders at age 15 would soon avoid a life sentence in adult court because of this law.