Proposed Minnesota Bill Would Consider 20-Year-Olds Accused Of Murder ‘Juveniles’

A new bill introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives would consider anyone under 21 years old accused of crimes, including first degree murder, as juveniles.

The bill, which was co-authored by Representative Cedrick Frazier of New Hope and Representative Sandra Feist of New Brighton, would "extend the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts to individuals under 21; including individuals aged 16 to 20 who are alleged to have committed murder in the first degree in the definition of a delinquent child.

The bill also would "eliminate the presumption that certain individuals will be certified as adults, amending the public safety factors a court must consider before ordering that a case charge in juvenile court be certified for a trial in an adult court."

FOX 9 spoke to one of the authors of the bill, Rep. Cedrick Frazier, who explained the reasoning behind it by saying he is trying to "line up what the science tells us and what the data tells us with how our systems actually work, how our criminal justice system works, and how we are dealing with our young people."

In the Fox 9 story, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges says that while a lot of the arguments made are typically racial-disparity based, they fail to consider the disparity in the victims, adding 'we are always talking about the people who commit the crimes.'

The bill still has several hurdles to clear before potentially becoming law. Feist tells FOX 9 that the proposal is meant to 'begin a conversation.'