Missouri governor supports trying kids 12-18 as adults

(AP) 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. The American Civil Liberties Union says the legislation is another ramp for juveniles to be thrown into the criminal justice system and raises racial bias concerns.