Despite significant changes in the past decade weakening our juvenile justice system, things are about to get even easier on violent juvenile criminals. If the early bills of the heavily progressive 2023 General Assembly are a harbinger of what is to come, this legislative session will be as offender friendly as any Colorado has seen. At a time when Colorado faces surging and historic crime, particular focus appears to be on how to make it harder to investigate, prosecute and hold accountable juvenile offenders.

House Bill 1042 would make the confessions of violent juvenile offenders inadmissible against them, if the detectives questioning the young criminal had the temerity to engage in any deception in cracking the “it wasn’t me, I didn’t do it” mantra that follows every reading of Miranda rights. Any deception. That includes such a statement as “we found your fingerprints in the car” (when they really hadn’t). Or, “your friend in the next room just gave you up.” Of course, none of that could convince an innocent person to confess to being in a car they had not been in, or having been involved in a crime in which they never participated.

The law already provides significant guidance to our judges through voluminous case law on how to evaluate whether the statement or confession of a defendant — either juvenile or adult — is constitutionally sound. Instead, this offender-friendly legislation creates a presumption that any such statement is “presumptively inadmissible.” This law would apply whether the juvenile is a 13-year-old shoplifter, or a 17-year-old murderer being prosecuted as an adult.

This is an unnecessary gift to a criminal defense bar that continues to be confounded in trying to protect their juvenile clients from the consequences of their confessed criminal conduct.

HB 1012 is another plumb to juvenile offenders. Each person accused of criminal conduct has a constitutional right to understand the court proceedings and meaningfully participate in their own defense. The inability to do that is called “incompetence” and it has caused significant delay in numerous cases, including the Boulder King Soopers mass murder and the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood mass murder. Currently, and appropriately, when there is a challenge to an accused’s competence, the court appoints a mental health professional (usually from the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo) to conduct the evaluation. That sounds fair — an independent evaluator. Paid for by our tax money.

This proposed law requires the court to pick “a competency evaluator” of the juvenile’s own choice. Keep in mind, it is not the actual juvenile — whose ability to understand the proceedings and participate in them is being challenged — who is picking the person who will decide whether the case can proceed. That decision will be made by an attorney, most likely a public defender. The obvious conflict and problem this creates is highlighted by this question: if you were facing serious, liberty-losing charges, would you pick an evaluator who will evaluate your case neutrally, or one who will more likely help delay the proceedings against you indefinitely?

In 2021, the legislature expanded the eligibility for early parole for juveniles convicted as adults to include adults up to age 21. That was after lawmakers flirted with the idea of extending to age 24. This year, there is talk that the legislature intends to shrink the age at which an offender can be brought into the juvenile justice system. The legislature intends to immunize from the juvenile justice system any offender below the age of 13. Those are 7th- and 8th-graders, and many of them commit serious crimes, including burglary, robbery, assaults, rapes and murder. The upcoming law appears poised to preclude even entry into the much-weakened juvenile justice system. Such a move is reckless and serves to protect offenders, not victims or our community.

Each year for the past decade, the General Assembly has proven that their focus is on minimizing the impact of the criminal justice system on offenders, instead of minimizing the impact of criminals on us. 2023 is shaping up to be more of the same.

George Brauchler is the former district attorney for the 18th Judicial District. He also is president of the Advance Colorado Academy, which identifies, trains and connects conservative leaders in Colorado. He hosts The George Brauchler Show on 710KNUS Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Follow him on Twitter: @GeorgeBrauchler.