Patrick Kennedy: “the base bill, the McCollum bill, is a joke. Anybody in juvenile corrections knows it is a joke. It ignores the facts.…”

“the base bill, the McCollum bill, is a joke. Anybody in juvenile corrections knows it is a joke. It ignores the facts. The facts are these: When we put kids in adult prison, guess what? They do not serve as much time because the judges do not have the heart to sentence a kid for as long as an adult. Second, if the kid is in jail, we are lucky they do not end up murdered or committing suicide, as my former colleague just said. Third, if they stay there long enough, they come out meaner and harder than you sent them in to begin with. Now this bill is a joke because it ignores these facts, and what is more, it ignores the fundamental truth that prevention works. And if my colleagues need to talk to States attorneys and local people, probation officers, and the like, they will tell them prevention works. Now are my colleagues serious about reducing crime or do my colleagues just want to play politics with this issue? It seems to me they just want to play politics because only 12 States will receive money on their side of the bill whereas all the States will be eligible for money with the Democratic substitute. Vote for the Democratic substitute for real solutions to this problem.”