‘Public safety' package clears latest hurdle, offers changes but keeps lower detention age of 11
LINCOLN — A 'public safety' package on Thursday cleared a second lawmaking hurdle and retains what has been the most controversial element — lowering the minimum age at which a youth can be detained from 13 to 11.
Before Legislative Bill 530 passed on a 35-9 vote, however, lawmakers approved smaller juvenile-justice related changes to address some concerns of certain lawmakers and nonprofits, said State Sen. Carolyn Bosn, chair of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee.
Among modifications was a requirement that all temporary and alternative placement options be exhausted before a child age 11 or 12 would be detained in a facility, which critics say causes lasting trauma.
Removed as a reason a youth could be detained was 'harm to self' language. 'We didn't want to create an illusion that we were detaining youth who might be going through a mental health crisis,' said Bosn.
Also changed was the name of a new designation a court could bestow on certain youth offenders. Omaha State Sen. Ashlei Spivey had taken issue with the earlier proposed 'high-risk juvenile probationer' category, comparing it to a 'super predator' flag that would disproportionately harm youths of color. Amended language now refers to those youths as 'comprehensive supervision probationers.'
In the end, Spivey was among nine 'no' votes, joining State Sen. Terrell McKinney of North Omaha, who was unsuccessful in garnering support for additional changes. For example, he wanted to limit which law enforcement levels are to receive a monthly list of 'comprehensive supervision probationers' generated by the Office of Probation Administration.
McKinney proposed that the list be provided only to high-ranking officers, not those below the rank of captain. He said his concern was the 'rogue' law enforcement officers who can misuse such information to 'provoke' or unfairly target youths. He said that happens disproportionately in his district.
McKinney noted during Thursday's debate that a teen was dead after being shot by a Douglas County sheriff's deputy that morning. The investigation is ongoing.
'I'm trying to make sure more lives don't get lost,' McKinney said.
Bosn said that no one likely would be completely satisfied with the juvenile justice parts of the public safety package, but she called the results so far a 'showing of good will.'
Spivey said that while some parts still give her 'heartburn,' she appreciated the process to try to reach a compromise on parts opponents said were overly punitive.
Bosn, a former prosecutor, views the overall package as promoting public safety while also better re-directing juveniles who have veered into trouble.
LB 530 includes an underlying bill introduced by State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha which aims to increase fines for speeding violations and to change the law to help 'vulnerable road users.'
Segments of at least nine bills were folded into the megabill before the Legislature's Judiciary Committee moved it to the floor for full debate. Lawmakers advanced it 33-0 in the first round and now, after approval Thursday, it moves to final reading.
Other components folded into the package:
LB 6, introduced by Bosn and aimed at fentanyl poisoning, calls for enhanced penalties when the person using the controlled substance dies or sustains serious injury.
LB 44, by McKinney, allows individuals to file for post-conviction relief up until the age of 21 if the conviction occurred as a minor.
LB 124, by State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue, would match a drunken driver's penalty for motor vehicle homicide of an unborn child to the penalty that drunken driver would get for motor vehicle homicide.
LB 395, by State Sen. Barry DeKay of Niobrara, would allow police access to a sealed juvenile record when someone applies for a concealed handgun permit.
LB 404, by State Sen. Robert Hallstrom of Syracuse, authorizes courts to extend a term of probation upon a joint application from the probation officer and the person on probation.
LB 600, by State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha, authorizes the Department of Transportation to temporarily reduce speed limits on highways under specific conditions such as adverse weather or traffic congestion.
LB 684, by State Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, was essentially gutted and replaced by a series of juvenile justice measures, including the lowering of the age at which a youth could be detained in a facility. That element, which sparked criticism from many during a public hearing, was originally part of a bill by Ralston State Sen. Merv Riepe.
Bosn said the Judiciary Committee sees the measures as ways to 'improve accountability for juveniles and transparency for law enforcement.' Spivey said the detainment measures were among the package's most concerning, and that prevention and rehabilitation services are more effective when dealing with young people whose brains are still developing.
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34 minutes ago
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In the days and weeks after Bryan Kohberger was arrested in connection with the brutal killings of four undergrads at the University of Idaho, students and instructors at nearby Washington State University told investigators the suspect seemed creepy and intense, with one predicting Kohberger could become the type of professor that harassed and stalked students, according to a trove of newly released documents. Kohberger pleaded guilty to the killings in July and has been sentenced life in prison without parole. One student who was in a class with Kohberger in the fall of 2022, when he worked on his PhD in criminology, told police he would act aggressively, staring at his classmates when he wasn't dominating group discussions. In a December 2022 interview conducted on the day of Kohberger's arrest at his parents' home in Pennsylvania, the student said the class often sat through his hours-long verbal sparring with professors as he tried to come across as the 'strongest, smartest, most important person in the room,' according to the records. The student described having a 'bad feeling' about Kohberger from the moment they met at orientation in the fall of 2022, months before the November 13 murders of Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen. Over the distressing semester that followed, she told investigators, Kohberger would trail her after class, block her path when she tried to leave conversations and stare with such intensity that she kept a tally of the encounters. 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Another professor was asked to escort the assistant to her car after work because of Kohberger's behavior, according to the documents. One student said whenever she looked up, Kohberger, who was a teaching assistant in her class, was 'always' staring, according to the records. He rarely spoke to students, she told police. She felt he would time his exit to leave when she did and then follow her to her car. The graduate student who met Kohberger during orientation said she caught him 'aggressively' staring at her as many as nine times in one class and said she was also followed after class. 'Kohberger always seems to want to be in the general area of her and others in the program that did not want to have anything to do with him,' the student told police, according to the documents. CNN has reached out to WSU for comment. Professors and faculty were troubled by Kohberger's behavior, according to the documents, and had fielded several complaints from students and colleagues. 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Kohberger then refused to leave when the professor asked, following him down the hall when the professor decided to walk away. 'Preventing him from leaving his office was a way of controlling,' the documents said. Students described to police how Kohberger stood close enough to trap them at their desks. In an office used by female students, one of his professors said Kohberger would position himself in the doorway, physically blocking it until she stepped in, 'allowing the female students to leave.' In several separate interviews, students and professors described stepping between Kohberger and others – intercepting him in hallways and inserting themselves in conversations for others' security. One WSU faculty member said her 'maternal instinct' wouldn't allow her to leave a female student alone in an office on campus with Kohberger, so she kept herself busy until he left. She didn't say any specific behavior of his prompted her to feel this way, the documents said. When he left, she told the student to email her with the subject line '911' if she ever needed help. In August 2022, a University of Idaho student said she met Kohberger in an apartment lobby and pointed him toward a pool party. She said she became uncomfortable with his staring and awkward conversation. During the party, 'Kohberger made very direct eye contact with her and made a bee line towards her' and a friend 'got up to intercept him' after realizing the student was uncomfortable, according to documents. In another instance, a male worker at a bookstore on WSU's campus described acting 'as a buffer' between his female coworker and Kohberger as he frequented the store, the documents show. The man believed Kohberger 'was attempting to flirt' with the woman 'and was absolutely zeroing in on her.' The man started 'telling Kohberger she was on the phone when he would come in so she wouldn't have to interact with him,' according to the documents. CNN's Jean Casarez, Lauren del Valle, Dakin Andone, Andy Rose, Nicquel Terry Ellis and Nicki Brown contributed to this report.
