By Brian Witte
The Maryland Senate passed a substantial juvenile justice reform measure Monday as lawmakers reached a milestone day in their 90-day session with three weeks left.
The reform legislation, which now goes to the House, generally says a child younger than 13 will not be subject to the jurisdiction of juvenile court for delinquency proceedings and may not be charged with a crime. But juvenile courts would have jurisdiction over a child who is at least 10 and has committed the most serious crimes, like murder and other crimes of violence.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jill Carter, is based on recommendations from a state panel.
The Senate also approved a separate bill last week that would prohibit a law enforcement officer from conducting custodial interrogation of a child, unless the child has consulted with an attorney.
A separate bill that would end the policy of automatically charging some children as young as 14 as adults for more than 30 different crimes has remained stuck in a legislative committee.
Overall, though, Carter said the two measures that have been passed by the Senate take significant steps in reform.
Read more at NBC 4 Washington.
