17-year-olds shouldn’t go to prison

A youngster who is not old enough to buy cigarettes in Texas is old enough to be sent to an adult state prison if convicted of a crime.

That’s because since 1918 Texas law has defined an adult as one who is 17 or older, making it one of only nine states in the nation that does not classify youths under the age of 18 as juveniles.

As a result, those 17-year-olds who are charged with a crime can be punished in adult prisons rather than sent to facilities designed to rehabilitate juvenile offenders.