Age-old issue persists about justice
Some say law too subjective about severity of 17-year-olds’ crimes
WOODSTOCK – In Illinois, 17-year-olds can’t vote, enlist in the military without permission or buy a lottery ticket.
But they can be considered adults when it comes to the criminal justice system.
“Illinois treats a 17-year-old who shoplifts an iPhone as an adult criminal: held with adults in jail, tried in adult criminal court, sent to adult prison if incarcerated, and issued an employment-crushing permanent criminal record,” according to a recent report by the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission.
Story Archived
Only the most recent 7 days of articles are available for free. For articles older than 7 days there is a small fee for retrieval from our archive. If you are a registered member of the site, the content is free just by signing in below.
Please sign in with your Comment Member ID and password.
Purchase Access
To allow for flexibility, we offer a variety of options for purchasing articles:
Having trouble?
If you have any technical difficulties, either with your username and password or with the payment options, please contact us by e-mail at archivedesk@shawmedia.com
