Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 18:31:33 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <199905052231.SAA07088@belmonte.ne.mediaone.net>
From: belmonte@mit.edu (Matthew Belmonte)
To: senator@kennedy.senate.gov
Subject: oppose S. 254

Dear Senator Kennedy:

I write as your constituent to express my opposition to S. 254, the "Violent
and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act."  This bill, sent directly to the Senate 
floor without the benefit of a committee hearing, essentially abandons the
option of prevention and rehabilitation for youthful offenders.  Instead, the
bill concentrates on measures that project a "tough on crime" image.  It urges
states to prosecute children as young as 10 as adults and to build facilities
to house children in adult jails.  These provisions ignore the premise on
which the separate juvenile justice system is grounded: that children can and
should be rehabilitated.  I hope that you'll vote against S. 254.