Nov. 5, 2013 – In this video, State Bar of Wisconsin President Patrick J. Fiedler talks to WISC-TV’s “For the Record” host Neil Heinen about juvenile justice and a bill that would return nonviolent, first-time juvenile offenders to juvenile court jurisdiction.

Fiedler tells Heinen that an adult criminal record can be damaging to a young person, especially now that employers and landlords use CCAP to check up on candidates.

“To me, more than anything else it’s a matter of fairness,” said Fiedler. “I’ve always been struck by the fact that when this law became effective in 1996, a 17-year-old cannot sign a contract, can’t get married without parental permission, can’t join the military service without parental permission, can’t vote, can’t do anything whatsoever that someone who is 18 has the right to do. And so the only right the 17-year-old was given was: ‘if you commit a crime, you’ll be prosecuted in adult court.’”

For more information about Assembly Bill 387/Senate Bill 308, click here.