Louisiana citizen voices concerns over proposed amendment to try juveniles as adults

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Early voting has started for Louisianians, and as voters get ready for the polls, there are some items bringing concerns to local communities. One of them is proposed Amendment 3 that deals with the prosecution of juveniles as adults for felony crimes. 

Under current Louisiana law, certain crimes give juveniles an automatic push into the adult system. If proposed Amendment 3 passes, the Louisiana legislature will have the power to decide which crimes apply. Crimes that apply right now include murder, rape, kidnapping, etc. 

“It just means that you don’t have to go to the polls and vote for an amendment every time you want to modify that list of crimes for which juveniles can be charged as adults,” said State Senator Jay Morris. 

A Louisiana man who is an impacted solitary survivor, Darryl Hill speaks out against the amendment. He fears the amendment could send more juveniles to prison, a place that he has tragic flashbacks of. 

“People were getting stabbed, there’s just all kinds of stuff going on there. You don’t even know if you’re going to make it home,” Hill said. 

Hill was sentenced for a crime at 13 years old and released in 2022, he said prison is not a safe place for juveniles. 

“You don’t know if you’ll wake up in the morning and maybe someone standing over you because everyone in there is stressed out,” he said. “You don’t know what’s on other people’s minds. You might be there with a serial killer and you’re a kid.”

He also emphasized solitary confinement, where those younger than 18 years old go, is not safe.

“You’re just stuck in the cell, some people commit suicide from just being in a cell, the walls start talking to you like, ‘I’m just in here.’ And that’s why a lot of people act out in there too,” he said. 

Sherie Thomas, executive director of the Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana, agrees and said fear for her is the crime that can be added in the future if the amendment is passed. She hopes people vote no and hopes there’s a better alternative in the future for the proposed amendment. 

“I would like for them to help us work with legislators to take time to craft some effective amendment and not something that’s going to harm the certain communities that it’s targeted for. This is definitely targeted amendments that are here on the election,” she said. 

Now for Senator Morris, he hopes people vote yes and said it all narrows down to trust. He said the proposed amendment is long overdue. 

“They need to trust what our district attorneys and law enforcement and the legislature are saying is that we need to modernize. We need to make our constitution more like the other 49 states and allow this amendment to pass and go forward,” said Morris. 

For those heading to the polls, early voting ends Saturday, March 22 and election day is March 29.

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