Today, we worked with Democrats and Republicans in the House to oppose LD 1727, a terrible bill which would have taken Maine the wrong direction in terms of juvenile justice and threatened to ruin the life of any young person caught in its net.  We were rewarded by a surprising landslide of opposition – with a 122 to 14 vote against the bill.

The majority of the House understood that preserving confidentiality until the petition is filed - as is current law – makes sense.  It provides one layer of scrutiny to determine whether there is enough evidence to even charge the arrested teen or reasons to maintain confidentiality before exposing them to life-destroying allegations.

Yet somehow, despite broad opposition from all facets of the juvenile justice system - including judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, civil rights advocates and more, the bill was passed out of the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety with bipartisan majority support. 

Thankfully, today, the House of Representatives saw the light - voting to keep our laws as they are - and to let the police, prosecutors and judges do the job they were intended to do with well designed safeguards in place.

The proposed bill would have allowed police to disclose a juvenile's identity following a mere arrest, rather than after review by the prosecutor and filing of charges with the juvenile court.   This has the potential to create grave harm. 

We all know that in today's "information age," once someone is publicly accused of a heinous crime, there's no turning back.  There is no way to, as they say "put the toothpaste back into the tube." And when we're talking about legally innocent teenagers - it's even more important that we move cautiously before publicly disclosing a juvenile's identity in association with a serious crime.     

One of the supporters of the measure kept saying that these juveniles don't deserve our protection because they've "crossed the line and committed a horrible act."  This statement is extremely misleading.  The teens at issue in LD 1727 have been arrested - not convicted or even charged of wrongdoing.  Statements like the one above and proposals like LD 1727 turn the presumption of innocence on its head through use of fear tactics. 

The reality is that any young person accused of a dangerous crime would be taken into custody - so there would be no risk to public safety.  And furthermore, because the broad goals of the juvenile justice system are to create an opportunity for second chances - even if the juvenile has committed a crime - there may be important, justifiable reasons why a court may choose to keep that child's identity a secret.  If LD 1727 were to pass, that option would be gone.

The bottom line?  Current law properly balances public safety with the importance of protecting the privacy of legally innocent juveniles accused of extremely serious crimes.

Please take a moment to thank the 122 members of the House who voted against this troublesome proposal - particularly Representatives Anne Haskell (D-Portland), Representative Stacey Fitts (R-Pittsfield), Representative Meagan Maloney (D-Augusta), Representative Ken Fredette (R-Newport) for speaking so eloquently during the House debate.

Click here to see how your Representative voted. 

And please urge your Senators to follow the House’s lead.  
We expect the Senate vote as early as Monday. 

Who else Opposes LD 1727?  Judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, juvenile justice experts and civil liberties advocates, including ACLU of Maine, Maine Prosecutors Association, Criminal Law Advisory Committee (CLAC), Juvenile Justice Action Group (JJAG), and the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL).