Claremont College students have banded together to fight Proposition 21, forming the Claremont Colleges Coalition Against Prop 21 (CCCAP), in the hope of mobilizing community members and registered five college students against the initiative.

Prop 21 has escaped public notice at the colleges next to the highly controversial Knight "Protection of Marriage" Initiative. Described as the Juvenile Crime Initiative, Proposition 21 is aimed at juveniles between the ages of 14 and 17. Up for a vote on the March 7 California Primary, the initiative would designate additional crimes as being felonies, making offenders subject to longer sentences. It would also require juvenile murderers and sex offenders over the age of 14 to be tried as adults, broaden the death penalty to include more gang-related murders, eliminate informal probation for juveniles committing felonies, and require registration for gang offenders.

Proposition 21 Juvenile Crime. Initiative Statute includes: a) Increases punishment for gang-related felonies; death penalty for gang-related murder; indeterminate life sentences for home-invasion robbery, carjacking, witness intimidation and drive-by shootings; and creates crime of recruiting for gang activities; and authorizes wiretapping for gang activities. b) Requires adult trial for juveniles 14 or older charged with murder or specified sex offenses. c) Eliminates informal probation for juveniles committing felonies. d) Requires registration for gang related offenses. crimes as violent and serious felonies, thereby making offenders subject to longer sentences.

Government officials estimate that if passed, the initiative would incur one-time statewide costs of $750 million and ongoing annual costs of over $330 million. This does not include local costs, which could range anywhere from tens of millions to over $100 million annually. The estimates reflect the costs of increased incarceration and surveillance.

Opponents to Proposition 21 say the proposition is too harsh on juvenile offenders. They argue that increasing prison facilities would do nothing to stop crime. Instead, they believe that promoting existing crime prevention programs would be better utilization of money.

Students involved in the CCCAP have focused mainly on talking to students in local high schools with the hope that these students would in turn inform their adult relatives about voter issues. Yuisa Gimeno PI ’02, one of the core organizers of this coalition, said they plan to turn their attention to college students of voting age within the next few weeks.

"People need to realize that a vote doesn’t just affect themselves," Gimeno said. "Prop 21 affects children who can’t vote, and [voters] have to make an effort to be accountable to the community."

Gimeno says some common concerns are that Proposition 21 would target juveniles of low socio-economic background and allow police to broadly define the term "gang."

However, Gimeno says the biggest concern for the initiative’s opponents is the degree to which juveniles would be punished. "[Proposition 21] is about locking up young people who could have a second chance," Gimeno said.

Supporters of Proposition 21 point out that the initiative targets only those who commit rape, murder and certain felonies.

The California Voter Information Pamphlet describes Proposition 21 as "ending the ‘slap on the wrist’ of current laws by imposing real consequences for gang members, rapists and murderers who cannot be reached through prevention or education."

Those in favor of Proposition 21 point to the 60% rise in juvenile crime in California over the past 15 years and see the initiative as a necessary measure for ensuring the safety of the state’s residents.

"Anyone who can raise a gun or rape a person is conscious of what he is doing," College Republicans member Julianne Eastman CMC ’01 said. "Americans have always had to pay the consequences of their actions. Only in the 20th century do we think people have an excuse because they’re children."

Eastman is critical of the current criminal justice system, which clears the criminal records of many juvenile offenders once they reach the age of 21 and frees juveniles jailed for murder once they reach the age of 25.

She cites this as a dangerous course of action that does not account for those who are still dangerous to society.

"You essentially give [juvenile offenders] a ‘get out of jail free’ card," Eastman said. "We have to realize that criminals have a conscience, and if that conscience is defective they should not be free at the age of 21."

Eastman, like many Proposition 21 supporters, also feels that criminals should not be exempt from having to exercise personal responsibility for their actions, regardless of their age.

"It’s ridiculous to say people don’t know right from wrong with they’re 14 but they suddenly do when they’re 15," Eastman said. "You have to hold [juveniles] responsible or else you’re telling them that they’re dumb."