A 15-year-old Missouri girl is in custody after a violent assault near Hazelwood East High School. The incident raised questions concerning the juvenile penal system in the state.
The Office of State Courts Administrator developed a classification system in an “effort to create an objective based decision-making strategy for managing youthful status and law violators referred to juvenile and family courts.”
Currently, there is a point system. A juvenile must have a score of 15 points to be incarcerated with felonies in the 11 to 12-point range.
Calling them the “two big matrix points”, Attorney Bevis Schock says there is a balance between reform and punishment when it comes to minors.