NEW ORLEANS — Two months ago, Governor Jeff Landry signed a law allowing some 17-year-olds to be tried as adults.
Orleans Parish juvenile court judges and the sheriff's office explained how that law already impacts the system.
Earlier this year, Governor Jeff Landry signed a law allowing 17-year-olds to be tried as adults, reversing a 2017 reform. This means that kids won't go through the juvenile justice system.
At Thursday's crime committee meeting Councilman Oliver Thomas asked, "What does it mean to juvenile court now?" Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Judge Candice Bates Anderson responded with, "It effects everything... I just remind kids you may not be able to vote, you may not be able to buy an alcoholic beverage, you may not be able to smoke tobacco and you may not be able to be to rent a hotel room or Air BNB but you can be tried as an adult."
She went on to say at the committee meeting that she's urging parents to be aware of these new state laws because if a 17-year-old is found guilty in a courtroom, they could be sent to an adult prison.
"Understanding that kids who may have had an open warrant that would have initially brought them into juvenile court, these warrants are now going to go into adult court," she said.
Judge Clint Smith says this new law takes away judge's ability to provide hope to kids in their courtroom, saying, "When a kid commits an act and the only option is juvenile life without the opportunity for parole it makes it much more difficult for us to get that kid to understand that you need to continue to move forward."
According to the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, 1,348 people are being held in the parish jail as of this week. The sheriff's office says youth detainees are held separately from adults and provided educational support. Sheriff Hutson said, "17-year-olds need supervision all day."
The sheriff's office says teenagers require different and continual supervision.
Currently, 13 juveniles are being held in Orleans Parish Jail.
The sheriff's office says four juveniles in jail will turn 18 by the end of the year, and they will then be moved to the general population.
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