Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 1999

Summary

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Juvenile Justice Reform Title II: Juvenile Gangs Title III: Juvenile Crime Control, Accountability, and Delinquency Prevention Subtitle A: Reform of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 Subtitle B: Accountability for Juvenile Offenders and Public Protection Incentive Grants Subtitle C: Alternative Education and Delinquency Prevention Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions Subtitle A: General Provisions Subtitle B: Jail-Based Substance Abuse Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 1999 - Title I: Juvenile Justice Reform - Repeals provisions of the Federal criminal code (the code) regarding the surrender to State authorities of juveniles arrested for the commission of Federal offenses. (Sec. 102) Authorizes juveniles age 14 years or older to be tried as adults, with an exception involving Indian country, at the discretion of the U.S. Attorney, in Federal district court for violations of Federal law which are serious violent felonies or serious drug offenses or which are other felony offenses, if the U.S. Attorney certifies that there is a substantial Federal interest to warrant the exercise of Federal jurisdiction or that the ends of justice otherwise so require. Authorizes the U.S. Attorney (or in the case of certain felony offenses, the Attorney General), upon declining prosecution of the charged person as a juvenile, to refer the matter to the appropriate legal authorities of the State or Indian tribe with jurisdiction over both the offense and the juvenile. Directs the U.S. Attorney in the appropriate jurisdiction (or in the case of certain felony offenses, the Attorney General), in cases of concurrent jurisdiction between the Federal Government and a State or Indian tribe over both the offense and the juvenile, to exercise a presumption in favor of referral unless the U.S. Attorney (or Attorney General) certifies that: (1) the prosecuting authority or the juvenile court or other appropriate court of the State or Indian tribe refuses, declines, or will refuse or decline to assume jurisdiction over the offense or the juvenile; and (2) there is a substantial Federal interest in the case or the offense to warrant the exercise of Federal jurisdiction. Authorizes a juvenile to be prosecuted and convicted as an adult for an offense that is properly joined under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure with a Federal offense that is a serious violent felony or serious drug offense, or that is a conspiracy or attempt to commit such offense. Permits conviction of a lesser included offense. Makes a determination to approve or not to approve, or to institute or not to institute, such a prosecution unreviewable. Directs the court in which criminal charges have been filed in such prosecution, if the juvenile was less than age 16 at the time of the offense, or in the case of certain felonies, upon motion of the defendant and after a hearing, to determine whether to issue an order to provide for the transfer of the defendant to juvenile status for purposes of proceeding against the defendant. Sets forth time requirements. Prohibits the court from ordering the transfer of a defendant to juvenile status unless the defendant establishes by clear and convincing evidence or information that removal to juvenile status would be in the interest of justice. Sets forth provisions regarding status of orders, inadmissibility of evidence, and applicable procedures. Subjects juveniles prosecuted as adults in U.S. district court to the same procedures and penalties as adults, except that no person under age 18 shall be subject to the death penalty. Makes mandatory restitution provisions applicable to juveniles tried as adults for specified offenses. Grants the U.S. Attorney (or, as appropriate, the Attorney General), in making determinations concerning juvenile arrest or prosecution, complete access to prior Federal and State (if permitted by State law) juvenile records. Specifies that certification regarding the trial of a juvenile as an adult shall not be made nor granted with respect to a juvenile who is subject to the criminal jurisdiction of an Indian tribal government if the juvenile is under age 15 at the time of the offense and is alleged to have committed an offense for which there would be Federal jurisdiction solely based on commission of the offense in Indian country, unless the governing body of the tribe having jurisdiction over the place where the alleged offense was committed has, before the occurrence of the alleged offense, notified the Attorney General in writing of its election that prosecution as an adult take place. Requires the court, in the case of a defendant convicted for conduct that occurred before the juvenile attained age 16, to impose a sentence without regard to any statutory minimum sentence upon finding at sentencing, after affording the Government an opportunity to make a recommendation, that the juvenile has not been previously adjudicated delinquent for, or convicted of, a serious violent felony or a serious drug offense. Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to: (1) amend the Federal sentencing guidelines to require that prior juvenile convictions and adjudications for crimes of violence, controlled substance offenses, any other offense for which the defendant received a sentence or disposition of imprisonment for one year or more, and any other offense punishable by a term of imprisonment of more than one year for which the defendant was prosecuted as an adult, receive a criminal history score for any juvenile offender being sentenced as an adult similar to that which the defendant would have received if those offenses had been committed by the defendant as an adult, if any portion of the sentence had been imposed or served within 15 years; (2) determine whether the criminal history treatment of juvenile adjudications or convictions for other offenses should be similarly adjusted and make any additional guideline amendments necessary; (3) assign criminal history points for juvenile adjudication based principally on the nature of the acts committed (and authorizes adjusting the score in light of the length of sentence the juvenile received); (4) submit emergency guidelines or amendments to Congress; and (5) amend the guidelines to provide for inclusion in any determination regarding whether a juvenile or adult defendant is a career offender, and in any computation of the sentence that any defendant found to be a career offender should receive, of any act for which the defendant was previously convicted or adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile that would be a felony if committed by the defendant as an adult. (Sec. 104) Modifies code provisions regarding custody prior to appearance before a magistrate to direct that: (1) the arresting officer notify the U.S. Attorney of the appropriate jurisdiction as soon as practicable and promptly take reasonable steps to notify the juvenile's parents, guardian, or custodian of custody; and (2) the juvenile not be subject to detention under conditions that permit prohibited physical contact or sustained oral communication with adult inmates. (Sec. 105) Provides for pretrial detention of juveniles tried as adults on the same basis as adults. Prohibits the pretrial or predisposition detention of juveniles with adults. (Sec. 106) Extends the period in which the trial of a juvenile in detention must be commenced from 30 to 70 days after the beginning of detention. Applies in juvenile cases the same tolling provisions for such time period that apply in adult prosecutions. Directs the court, in determining whether an information should be dismissed with or without prejudice, to consider the seriousness of the alleged act of juvenile delinquency, the facts and circumstances of the case that led to the dismissal, and the impact of a re-prosecution on the administration of justice. (Sec. 107) Revises code provisions regarding the sentencing of juveniles found to be delinquent but not tried as adults to direct the court to hold a dispositional hearing within 40 court days after the finding of delinquency, unless the court has ordered further study. Requires: (1) a predisposition report to be prepared by the probation officer who shall promptly provide a copy to the juvenile, the juvenile's counsel, and the attorney for the Government; (2) victim impact information to be included in the report; (3) victims or their official representatives to be provided the opportunity to make a statement to the court or present information in relation to the disposition; and (4) the court to place the juvenile on probation or commit the juvenile to official detention and to impose any fine that would be authorized if the juvenile had been tried and convicted as an adult. Directs the court to enter an order of restitution. Requires that any such imprisonment be terminated on the juvenile's 26th birthday and prohibits a juvenile sentenced to a term of imprisonment from being released from custody simply because the juvenile reaches age 18. (Sec. 108) Rewrites code provisions regarding the use of juvenile records to permit disclosure to unauthorized persons of the records of a juvenile proceeding and release of such records only to the extent necessary for specified purposes, including (subject to specified requirements): (1) docketing and processing by the court; (2) responding to inquiries from courts, law enforcement agencies, the director of certain treatment agencies or facilities, and victims and their immediate family; and (3) communicating with a victim or the victim's official representative. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) records transmission to, and maintenance by, the FBI; (2) availability of records to schools in limited circumstances; (3) notification of the juvenile, and the juvenile's parent or guardian, of the juvenile's rights vis-a-vis adjudication record; and (4) records of juveniles tried as adults. (Sec. 109) Revises code provisions regarding juvenile commitment to require the sentence for a juvenile who is adjudicated delinquent or found guilty of an offense in U.S. district court to be carried out in the same manner as for an adult defendant, with exceptions. Specifies that the parent, guardian, or custodian of a juvenile sentenced to pay a fine or ordered to pay restitution or a special assessment may not be made liable for such payment by any court. Prohibits a juvenile under age 18 who is committed to the custody of the Attorney General for incarceration from being placed or retained in any jail or correctional institution in which the juvenile has prohibited physical contact with an adult inmate or can engage in sustained oral communication with adult inmates. Directs that violent juveniles be kept separate from nonviolent juveniles. Requires the Attorney General to: (1) commit a juvenile to a foster home or community-based facility located in or near the juvenile's home community if such commitment is practicable, in the juvenile's best interest, and consistent with community safety, with an exception; and (2) study and report to Congress on the capabilities of Indian tribal courts and criminal justice systems relating to the prosecution of juvenile criminals under tribal jurisdiction; and (3) evaluate an expansion of tribal court criminal jurisdiction. (Sec. 110) Extends the jurisdiction of Federal magistrate judges to class A misdemeanors. Permits magistrate judges to impose terms of imprisonment on juveniles. (Sec. 111) Amends the Sentencing Reform Act to: (1) apply Federal sentencing guidelines regarding maximum penalties for violent crimes and serious drug crimes to juveniles tried as adults; and (2) direct the Commission, by affirmative vote of not fewer than four of its members, to promulgate and distribute to all U.S. courts and to the U.S. Probation System guidelines for sentencing juveniles tried as adults in Federal court and for dispositional hearings for juveniles adjudicated delinquent in the Federal system. (Sec. 112) Directs the Attorney General to conduct a study of the juvenile justice systems of Indian tribes, and to report to specified congressional committees. Title II: Juvenile Gangs - Prohibits and sets penalties for recruiting or soliciting persons to be or to remain as a member of a criminal street gang. (Sec. 202) Amends: (1) the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to increase penalties for employing or using persons under age 18 in drug operations; and (2) the code to set penalties for the use of minors to commit a Federal offense that is a crime of violence, or to assist in avoiding detection or apprehension for such offense. (Sec. 204) James Guelff Body Armor Act of 1999 - Directs the Commission to amend the sentencing guidelines to increase the offense level by not less than two levels for any offense in which the defendant used body armor. (Sec. 205) Authorizes the Attorney General to designate "high intensity interstate gang activity areas." Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth allocation formulas. (Sec. 206) Increases penalties for using physical force to tamper with witnesses, victims, or informants. Title III: Juvenile Crime Control, Accountability, and Delinquency Prevention - Subtitle A: Reform of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 - Rewrites provisions of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to establish in the Department of Justice an Office of Juvenile Crime Control and Prevention, headed by an Administrator. Directs the Administrator to develop objectives, priorities, and short- and long-term plans, and implement overall policy and strategy to carry out such plan, for all Federal juvenile crime control, prevention, and juvenile offender accountability programs and activities relating to improving juvenile crime control, the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders, the prevention of juvenile crime, and the enhancement of accountability by offenders within the U.S. juvenile justice system. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to eligible States to provide financial assistance to eligible entities to carry out projects designed to prevent juvenile delinquency, including educational projects or supportive services for juveniles to encourage juveniles to remain in elementary and secondary schools or in alternative learning situations in educational settings, projects that use neighborhood courts or panels that increase victim satisfaction and require juveniles to make restitution or perform community service for the damage caused by their delinquent acts, projects that expand the use of probation officers, and projects that leverage funds to provide scholarships for postsecondary education and training for low-income juveniles who reside in neighborhoods with high rates of poverty, violence, and drug-related crimes. Sets forth provisions regarding State eligibility to receive grants, State plan approval and modification by a State Advisory Group, compliance with statutory requirements, and grant allocations. Establishes within the National Institute of Justice a National Institute for Juvenile Crime Control and Delinquency Prevention. Directs the Administrator to: (1) establish within the latter a training program designed to train enrollees regarding methods and techniques for the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency; and (2) conduct a study, and report, on the effect of incarceration on status offenders compared to similarly situated individuals who are not placed in secure detention. Requires the Administrator to make grants to or enter into contracts with public and private nonprofit agencies, organizations, and institutions to establish and support programs and activities that: (1) involve families and communities and that are designed to carry out specified purposes, such as preventing and reducing juvenile participation in the activities of gangs that commit crimes, targeting elementary school students in steering students away from gang involvement, and providing treatment to juvenile gang members; and (2) reduce juvenile participation in illegal gang activities, develop regional task forces involving State, local, and community-based organizations to coordinate gang disruption, prosecution, and curtailment, facilitate coordination and cooperation among specified agencies and community-based programs, and support programs that are designed to encourage courts to develop and implement a specified continuum of post-adjudication restraints, and assist in the provision by the Administrator of information and technical assistance to States in the design and utilization of risk assessment mechanisms to aid juvenile justice personnel in determining appropriate sanctions for delinquent behavior. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to, and enter into contracts with, States, local governments, Indian tribal governments, public and private nonprofit agencies, organizations, and institutions, and individuals, or combinations thereof, to carry out projects for the development, testing, and demonstration of promising initiatives and programs for the prevention, control, or reduction of juvenile delinquency. Directs the Administrator: (1) by making grants to and entering into contracts with local educational agencies, to establish and support programs and activities for the purpose of implementing mentoring programs; and (2) to make a grant to a qualified cooperative extension service for the purpose of expanding and replicating family mentoring programs to reduce the incidence of juvenile crime and delinquency among at-risk youth. Authorizes the Administrator, in cooperation with the Secretary of Agriculture, to make grants to cooperative extension services to establish such family mentoring programs. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2004. Makes religious nondiscrimination provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 applicable to a State or local government exercising its authority to distribute grants to applicants under this title. Sets forth restrictions on the use of appropriations for experimentation on individuals, construction by private agencies, lobbying, and legal action against Federal, State, or local agencies, institutions, or employees. Sets penalties for violations. Repeals provisions regarding incentive grants for local delinquency prevention programs. (Sec. 303) Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (the Act) to: (1) include findings that it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to assist in the development of an accurate national reporting system on runaway and homeless youth and that services for such youth are needed in urban, suburban, and rural areas; (2) authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities to establish and operate local centers to provide services for such youth and their families; (3) require a grant applicant, to be eligible for assistance, to include assurances that the applicant shall submit an annual report that includes, with respect to the year for which the report is submitted, statistical summaries describing the number and the characteristics of such youth and youth at risk of family separation who participated in the project and the services provided to such youth by the project; and (4) modify the services that applicants must plan to provide in order to use grant money for street-based, home-based, and drug abuse education and prevention services. Revises Act provisions regarding: (1) approval of applications to direct the Secretary to consider the geographical distribution in the State of the proposed services and which areas of the State have the greatest need for such services, and to give priority to eligible applicants who have demonstrated experience in providing services to runaway and homeless youth and who request grants of less than $200,000; (2) authority for the transitional living grant program to repeal definitions of "homeless youth" and "transitional living youth project"; (3) eligibility for assistance by stating that the annual report submitted by grant applicants to the Secretary must include statistical summaries describing the number and characteristics of the services provided to the homeless youth;(4) coordination by the Secretary of the activities of the Department of Health and Human Services with respect to matters relating to the health, education, employment, and housing of runaway and homeless youth; and (5) authority to make grants for research, demonstration, and service projects to repeal references to home-based and street based services from the research and demonstration projects. Repeals provisions of the Act directing that assistance to potential grantees include information on the need for the establishment of additional runaway and homeless youth centers in the geographical area identified by the potential grantee involved. Amends the Act to require the Secretary, by April 1, 1999, and biennially thereafter, to submit to specified congressional committees a report on the status, activities, and accomplishments of entities that receive grants under the Act. Lists information that must be included in the report. Requires the Secretary to include summaries of the Secretary's evaluations of grantees and descriptions of the qualifications and training of the individuals administering the evaluations. Modifies the Act to authorize the disclosure or transfer of records containing the identity of individual youths to an individual or public or private agency for purposes of the disposition of criminal or delinquency charges against, or the coordinated delivery of services to, individual youths. Authorizes appropriations under such Act through FY 2004. Sets forth the division of appropriations among the programs. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to nonprofit private agencies to provide street-based services to runaway and homeless, and street youth, who have been subjected to, or are at risk of being subjected to, sexual abuse, prostitution, or sexual exploitation. Directs the Secretary to give priority to nonprofit private agencies that have experience in providing services to runaway and homeless, and street youth. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2004. Grants the Secretary authority to implement a single consolidated application review process. (Sec. 304) Amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to direct the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to annually make a grant to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which shall be used to: (1) operate a national 24-hour toll-free telephone line by which individuals may report information regarding the location of any missing child, or other child age 13 or younger whose whereabouts are unknown to such child's legal custodian, and request information pertaining to procedures necessary to reunite such child with the child's legal custodian; (2) coordinate the operation of such telephone line with the operation of the national communications system referred to in the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act; (3) operate the official national resource center and information clearinghouse for missing and exploited children; (4) provide to State and local governments, public and private nonprofit agencies, and individuals, information regarding free or low-cost legal, restaurant, lodging and transportation services that are available for the benefit of missing and exploited children and their families and the existence and nature of programs being carried out by Federal agencies to assist missing and exploited children and their families; (5) coordinate public and private programs that locate, recover, or reunite missing children with their families; (6) disseminate, on a national basis, information relating to innovative and model programs, services, and legislation that benefit missing and exploited children; (7) provide technical assistance and training to law enforcement agencies, State and local governments, elements of the criminal justice system, public and private nonprofit agencies, and individuals in the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and treatment of cases involving missing and exploited children; and (8) provide assistance to families and law enforcement agencies in locating and recovering missing and exploited children, both nationally and internationally. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2004. Requires the Administrator, either by making grants to or entering into contracts with public or nonprofit private agencies, to: (1) periodically conduct national incidence studies to determine for a given year the actual number of children reported missing each year, abducted by strangers, kidnaped by parents, and recovered each year; and (2) provide to State and local governments, public and private nonprofit agencies, and individuals information to facilitate the lawful use of school records and birth certificates to identify and locate missing children. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to and enter contracts with the Center for specified purposes, such as for research, demonstration projects, or service programs designed to assist in the locating and return of missing children. (Currently, such grants or contracts may only be made with public or nonprofit private organizations, or combinations thereof.) Authorizes appropriations through FY 2004. Repeals requirements regarding a study to determine the obstacles that prevent or impede individuals who have legal custody of children from recovering such children from parents who have illegally removed such children from such individuals, and regarding a report on such study. (Sec. 305) Transfers functions and allocates appropriations and personnel to the new Office of Juvenile Crime Control and Prevention. Subtitle B: Accountability for Juvenile Offenders and Public Protection Incentive Grants - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Safe Streets Act) to direct the Attorney General, subject to the availability of appropriations, to make grants to States for use by States and local governments in planning, establishing, operating, coordinating, and evaluating projects for the development of more effective investigation, prosecution, and punishment of crimes or acts of delinquency committed by juveniles, programs to improve the administration of justice for and ensure accountability by juvenile offenders, and programs to reduce the risk factors associated with juvenile crime or delinquency. Sets forth provisions regarding use of grants, State grant allocation and distribution, grant allocation among qualifying States and restrictions on use, and grants to Indian tribes. Directs the Attorney General, upon application from a State, to makes grants to eligible States that maintain certain records regarding juvenile criminal history and fingerprints and that will establish procedures by which an official of an elementary, secondary, and post-secondary school may, as appropriate, gain access to the juvenile adjudication record of a student enrolled or seeking to enroll at that school. (Sec. 322) Directs the Attorney General to establish a pilot program to encourage and support communities that adopt a comprehensive approach to suppressing and preventing violent juvenile crime patterned after successful State juvenile crime reduction strategies. Sets forth program requirements. (Sec. 324) Extends the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. (Sec. 325) Amends: (1) the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 to provide for the reimbursement of States for costs of incarcerating juvenile aliens; and (2) the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to require annual reporting of the number of illegal juvenile aliens committed to State or local juvenile correctional facilities. (Sec. 326) Expresses the sense of the Congress that each State should enact legislation to provide, on motion of the prosecution and with court approval, that an individual who is between age ten and fourteen may be tried as an adult and, upon conviction, may be subject to any penalty (other than a sentence of death) if the individual is charged with an offense that, if committed by an adult, would be a felony offense for which the maximum penalty is a sentence of death. Subtitle C: Alternative Education and Delinquency Prevention - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct: (1) the Secretary of Education to make grants to State or local education agencies for not less than ten demonstration projects that enable the agencies to develop models for and carry out alternative education for at-risk youth; and (2) each agency receiving such a grant to enter into a partnership with a private sector entity to provide alternative educational services to at-risk youth. Sets forth application, grantee selection, matching, and evaluation requirements. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2003. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit firearms possession by persons who have committed an act of violent juvenile delinquency. Subtitle B: Jail-Based Substance Abuse - Amends the Safe Streets Act to authorize the use of residential substance abuse treatment grants to provide nonresidential substance abuse treatment aftercare services for inmates or former inmates if the State's chief executive officer certifies to the Attorney General that the State is providing, and will continue to provide, an adequate level of residential treatment services. Makes specified funds available to a State to make grants to local correctional facilities in the State for the purpose of assisting jail-based substance abuse treatment programs established by those facilities. Sets forth provisions regarding the Federal share, application requirements, review of applications, State implementation of a statewide communications network to track the participants in jail-based substance abuse treatment programs established by local correctional facilities in the State as those participants move between such facilities within the State, the use of grant sums, reporting requirements, and performance review.

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6 official files

• Engrossed in Senate (text)

  Engrossed in Senate · EN · 20 May 1999

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• Engrossed in Senate (PDF)

  Engrossed in Senate · EN · 20 May 1999

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• Passed Senate amended

  summary · EN · 20 May 1999

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• Placed on Calendar Senate (text)

  Placed on Calendar Senate · EN · 22 January 1999

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• Placed on Calendar Senate (PDF)

  Placed on Calendar Senate · EN · 22 January 1999

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• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 20 January 1999

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