The California State Assembly approved a plan to exclude children age 11 and younger from juvenile court jurisdiction to promote the rights, health and well-being of youth by curbing premature exposure to incarceration.

“I’m grateful to colleagues who have joined me in reforming a system that too often punishes children as if they were disposable,” state Sen. Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) said after the Assembly voted 41-21 to approve Senate Bill 439, which now returns to the Senate for concurrence. “Children are not pint-sized adults. Instead, they should be cared for with an emphasis on rehabilitation – not warehousing.”

SB 439 is one of several bills comprising an #EquityAndJustice package jointly authored for the second consecutive year by Mitchell and Sen. Ricardo Lara. Six measures were signed into law last year, and SB 439 is among four remaining this session.

The two Los Angeles-area Democrats have sought major juvenile and criminal-justice reforms that put greater emphasis on prevention, rehabilitation and maintaining family cohesion.

Their other remaining measures are SB 1050, which would provide services and support for exonerated people after prison, including healthcare, work training and updating exonerate records to reflect their wrongful convictions; SB 1391, which would ensure that youth ages 14 and 15 who commit crimes get the services and help they need by prohibiting them from being tried as adults and keeping them in the juvenile justice system; and SB 1393, which would return judicial discretion on sentencing related to five-year enhancements for serious felony convictions.

For information, visit senate.ca.gov/Mitchell.