(The Center Square) – Family members of victims of violent crime committed by minors, along with other advocates, pushed for legislative reform in California Tuesday morning to impose harsher measures on minors who commit violent crime.
Advocates said during a press conference outside the Capitol that California used to have laws that worked well when it came to violent crimes committed by teens.
Criminal justice reforms instituted in the last several years, however, have rolled back accountability measures for those youth, as well as protections for public safety, according to the advocates.
“Victims’ families and those who are here today have grave concerns about gaps in California’s juvenile justice system,” Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, said at the press conference.
Under current state law, many youth charged with crimes like murder are kept from being tried for that crime in adult court, Niello said, or they are allowed to serve what would otherwise be jail or prison time out in the community under much fewer restrictions.
“The injustices to victims deserve a response,” Niello added.
Tuesday's press conference was held 10 years after California voters passed Proposition 57. The measure aimed to increase rehabilitation programs for those convicted of crimes to prevent repeat criminals from a “revolving door” of crime and prison time.
Those who say that the proposition made it easier for juvenile offenders of violent crimes to walk free pointed on Tuesday to the 2021 murder of young Fresno man Sergio Bonboster, 20. Bonboster was murdered in his apartment by his roommate and the roommate’s 17-year-old girlfriend, according to previous news reporting about the crime and conviction. Savannah Bonboster, Sergio’s brother, said the two then cut Bonboster’s body in half, throwing away the bottom half and taking the top half to a remote location and burning it.
The girl, who is now over 18, was released on probation last year – which is allowed under Prop. 57, according to news reports.
“I’m standing today with all the other families asking the Legislature to take action today,” Savannah Bonboster said at the press conference. “It won’t change what happened to my brother, but if it changes the outcome of at least one other person’s family, it’ll mean everything.”
Law enforcement at the press conference on Tuesday said California’s approach to juvenile criminal justice reduced accountability for violent youth and makes communities across the state less safe.
“For years, California had a juvenile justice system that was moving in the right direction,” said Esa Ehmen-Krause, the Contra Costa County chief probation officer. “Youth arrests and crime were declining, while rehabilitation and accountability worked together to create safer communities, justice for victims and better outcomes for young people.”
In recent years, Ehmen-Krause said, that balanced approach was “systematically dismantled.”
“Policy after policy has shortened timelines, removed tools and limited probation’s ability to respond to our highest-risk youth,” Ehmen-Krause said. “We warned there would be consequences, and now the data shows it.”
Groups who advocate for criminal justice reforms for youth, like The Sentencing Project, the Coalition for Juvenile Justice and The Center for Juvenile and Criminal Justice, among others, did not respond to The Center Square's request for comment before publication time on Tuesday.
