Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is asking lawmakers to approve legislation that would allow judges to decide whether a child between the ages of 12 and 18 should be tried as an adult in court for unlawful use of weapons and armed criminal action.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that this comes two years after legislators passed a measure that raised the age to be tried as an adult from 17 to 18 years old. Parson is asking the General Assembly to approve the legislation in a special session.
Jeanette Mott Oxford, executive director of social justice organization Empower Missouri, says juveniles do not belong in adult courts or prisons.