VINCENT SNOWBARGER: “I will talk specifically about juvenile offenders, because it is amazing to me that Washington is just now catching on…”

“I will talk specifically about juvenile offenders, because it is amazing to me that Washington is just now catching on to get tough on juvenile crime laws. We did that in Kansas last year. We often think Washington has the answers to all these questions. They do not. A lot of States out there were before Kansas in submitting and passing legislation that would again treat juvenile offenders as adults when they commit adult crimes, extending the sentences for juveniles, again treating them as adults if they choose to commit crimes like adults would commit. In the area of victims rights, we passed a constitutional amendment to the State constitution that guaranteed certain rights to victims. I know one of our colleagues from Texas is going to be talking about that same kind of proposal for the U.S. Constitution. Again, States are already acting on those things, and sometimes I think if we do not understand that States can act more quickly and sometimes in a much more responsive fashion, then we are going to fall into the same trap I think our colleagues in the past have, thinking Washington is the repository of all wisdom.”