By Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News Staff
A judge who presided over the Queen City’s most horrific murder trial and whose decision over a transgender student’s access to a school bathroom helped change the law stepped down last week after nearly three decades on the bench.
Superior Court Justice William Anderson, who presided most often in Bangor and Dover-Foxcroft, retired Nov.
The measure would also eliminate the minimum stay for youths committed to the state's only youth detention center, and would commit no one younger than age 14.
Lawmakers consider bill to prohibit prosecuting anyone younger than 12
The measure would also eliminate the minimum stay for youths committed to the state s only youth detention center, and would commit no one younger than age 14.
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In 2019, 16 children under the age of 12 were charged with a crime in Maine, three of them younger than 10. In 2020, eight children under 12 faced criminal charges. While some were serious crimes such as arson, most would be misdemeanors for adults, such as assault or theft.
Legislators are considering a proposal that would bring those numbers to zero by setting the minimum age of criminal prosecution at 12 years old. As of last year, Maine would be one of only three states to do so, according to data from the National Juvenile Defender Center.