https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/louisiana-house-votes-to-make-youth-crime-records-public/article_efeaca46-9557-5a4f-85f5-8af4078e5281.html

Supporters say they’re addressing crime with transparency. Opponents question the parishes selected.

The Louisiana House on Thursday approved a bill to make some juvenile criminal records public, an effort that would apply to three of the state’s most-populous and majority-Black parishes.

House Bill 321 would make some court records public for youth as young as 13 in Caddo, Orleans and East Baton Rouge Parishes — an effort to create what supporters call a “pilot program” that they say would later be followed by a statewide system, though it’s unclear how the statewide effort would unfold.

The bill sponsor, Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, said the goal is to bring down crime in the parishes with the highest crime rates by offering more transparency.

“This bill is about public safety,” Villio said on the House floor. “The public has a right to know.”

The effort has stirred controversy for its focus on the majority-Black areas, with advocates and some lawmakers calling it a blatantly racist effort that would expose Black youth to a level of scrutiny historically reserved for the adult justice system.

“Let’s be real. We know what this is about. The optics are obvious. Let’s stop playing around with this,” said Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge. “If you’re from Baton Rouge, if you’re from Shreveport, if you’re from New Orleans, you should be offended by this.”

Villio’s measure would require the three localities to create publicly available electronic databases of minute entries from juvenile court hearings, among other records. The website would be linked to the website of the Office of the Attorney General.

The bill advances now to the Senate, though it will die unless lawmakers set aside state funding for it.

Supporters of Villio’s legislation include Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry, who is running for governor and released a video Thursday evening in support of the bill. It accompanies a host of other bills that take a hard-line stance on criminal justice issues, some of them aimed at rolling back aspects of the state’s bipartisan justice reforms enacted in 2017.

Some of those measures have progressed with relative ease compared to similar legislation filed in past years, in part due to a reshuffling of the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee, which has become more conservative.

Lawmakers proposed several amendments on the House floor aimed at softening Villio’s bill, but all came up short. The bill eventually passed the chamber on a 63-36 vote.

Villio said the bill focused on the three parishes because of their high crime rates. New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport have grappled with soaring gun violence in recent years. But even some conservative lawmakers who have taken tough stances on crime seemed wary of Villio’s measure.

Rep. John Stefanski, R-Crowley, is running for state attorney general and has filed a bill to give fentanyl dealers life in prison. But he expressed reservations about releasing juvenile records to the public.

“Even though these kids are accused of very bad crimes, they’re still just accused,” he said. He was absent for the vote.

Tensions flared as the chamber debated the bill after more than five hours of deliberating on other legislation.

“This is reckless and irresponsible. I don’t care who the sponsor is,” Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Central, told the floor before walking back to his desk.

James Finn covers state politics in Baton Rouge for The Advocate | The Times-Picayune. Email him at jfinn@theadvocate.com or follow him on Twitter @rjamesfinn.