DOVER, Del. (AP) - Four bills running through the Delaware Legislature are seeking to ease or change sentencing requirements for juveniles charged with felonies.
The News Journal of Wilmington reports the three House bills would remove mandatory minimum sentences and give judges more discretion in each case. The Senate bill would allow courts to immediately order a conviction to be expunged, which would erase or seal the juvenile’s criminal record if found not guilty or the charges are dropped.
These bills follow Gov. John Carney signing a bill into law last year that allows the court to clear juvenile felony records if the offender has since shown rehabilitation. Spokesman for the Office of Defense Services, Jon Offredo, says people often think juvenile records are automatically sealed, but instead they have to get them expunged.
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Information from: The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., http://www.delawareonline.com
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