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TRENTON
-- Students from the Juvenile Justice Commission’s
(JJC) residential community homes and day
programs attended a mock senate session
today at the New Jersey State House in the
official Senate Chambers. After studying
the governmental process in the classroom,
students debated bills and cast their votes
on several pieces of legislation pertaining
to juveniles.
“Government
impacts everyone’s life – even
young people. There is no better way for
students to understand how bills are drafted,
amended, and adopted than by actually doing
it themselves,” said JJC executive
director Veleria N. Lawson. “This
unique educational opportunity helps our
students understand that everyone has a
chance to influence government and the laws
of this state.”
Students
represented individual legislative districts
and debated several bills, including A-535,
which clarifies the penalties the court
may impose in sentencing certain adults
and juveniles guilty of making false public
alarm; S-222, which criminalizes participation
in a street gang; S-1509, which authorizes
the waiver of certain juvenile firearm-related
cases to adult court; S-2497, which allows
certain child support obligors in arrears
to apply for certain licenses provided that
certain obligations have been met; and S-420,
which increases the penalty for certain
gang related crimes.
The
participants from each JJC residential or
day program represented individual voting
districts. After preparing their arguments
ahead of time in the classroom, each discussed
the reasons why they were in favor of or
against each bill. Students were also able
to amend legislation prior to casting their
votes. One student acted as the Senate President
and another as the Clerk to the Senate,
helping to orchestrate the voting session.
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