California lawmakers have tried to limit the length of time children spend on probation, passing legislation in 2022 to create a presumption that minors cannot serve terms longer than six months. Courts would still have been able to extend probation conditions an additional six months, though this would take a hearing process and a judge finding it in the child’s best interest, with no limit to the number of times that probation could be extended.

That measure, however, was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom. …

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This year, Assemblymember Mia Bonta refiled the 2021 measure to limit probation terms on minors, with Assembly Bill 1376.

Bonta, who says current probation conditions are often overbearing or unreasonable, explained that the legislation also aims to make officials impose conditions that are individually tailored and developmentally appropriate.

“We’re dealing with youth where there should be some recognition of what’s developmentally appropriate, what they can access in terms of being able to actually fulfill and we should make it personalized towards what their particular experiences, as opposed to a long laundry list of things that may or may not be within their ability to actually achieve,” Bonta said.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20250507113327/https://boltsmag.org/california-juvenile-probation-reform/