HB 1381 | Omnibus juvenile justice reforms

Session: 2023–2024

ACLU-PA Position: Supports

HB 1381 (PN 2049) is an omnibus bill that would make numerous, desperately needed improvements to the juvenile justice system, including:

• Eliminating direct file, the practice of automatically charging children as if they were adults;
• Requiring diversion for many lower level charges;
• Limiting school referral to juvenile court;
• Raising the minimum age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 10 to 13, or 12 in the most serious cases;
• Prohibiting pre-trial detention for youth under 14 and some other youth;
• Eliminating juvenile fines and fees, and limiting restitution;
• Capping the length of juvenile probation;
• Requiring juvenile-specific Miranda rights;
• Eliminating solitary in juvenile facilities with some exceptions; and
• Raising the age of transfer from juvenile to adult court from 14 to 16.

In the memo below, our allies at the Juvenile Law Center provide a comprehensive analysis of the problems plaguing the juvenile justice system and how HB 1381 proposes to address many of those deficiencies.

Check the bill's status here.