Letters to the Editor: George Gascón is right about not charging teens as adults

To the editor: My first professional job was working in a locked treatment facility, with teens adjudicated by the juvenile court and remanded for therapy. I worked with rapists, armed robbers and boys who shot their parents long before anyone ever heard of the Menendez brothers. My career working with troubled adolescents spanned nearly 50 years. (“Gascón gave teen killer second chance — now she’s charged again,” Oct. 3)

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón understands that the adolescent brain is not sufficiently developed for a 16-year-old to understand the long-term impact of the commission of a violent crime, on both their lives and on those of their victims. That’s not new information. It’s a scientifically proven fact.

Treating a juvenile as an adult is as brutal and barbaric as the crimes committed, and the use of anecdotes instead of data to win a political contest is just another dog whistle in an effort to oust Gascón.

The voters will decide if we want to usher in the old, already failed, regressive tough-on-teens approach to the prosecution of juveniles, or if we want to heed the data showing the success achieved by keeping minors out of the adult penal system.

Teresa DeCrescenzo, Studio City

The writer is a licensed clinical social worker and a licensed marriage and family therapist.