A bill that would require people under 21 who are charged with murder to be tried as adults passed the Alabama House of Representative on Tuesday after several lawmakers spoke in opposition to the legislation, including a retired circuit judge.

Current law says that a minor charged as an adult for any crime can apply to a judge for youthful offender status and be tried in juvenile court.

HB146 by Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Killen, would take away that discretion for judges if the charge is for capital murder or intentional murder.

Pettus, a retired state trooper, said a Clay County case from about eight years ago was one in which a teen defendant was unjustifiably granted youthful offender status after shooting his ex-girlfriend in the head and throwing her over a cliff.

Pettus also noted that shooters in the mass shooting in Dadeville in 2023 were eligible for youthful offender status, although he said none were granted that.

Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody, a former St. Clair County circuit judge, opposed the bill. Hill said he hears legislators saying they don’t want judges making law or legislating from the bench, and he agrees, saying “judges should never, never, legislate from the bench.”

“However, the court handles cases and controversies that come before it,” Hill said.

“And to remove the discretion of the judge who knows the facts of the particular case that is coming before that judge, you are eroding the ability of the court to make the decisions that it needs to make.”

Several Democratic lawmakers also spoke in opposition to the bill.

Rep. Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, said judges should be able to use their experience to decide when youthful offender status is appropriate, even for youths who have committed murder.

“It’s sending a very bad message to our children, for us to sit here today and say, ‘We can’t forgive you, we can’t give you a second chance, we want you the first time to be criminalized as an adult,” Warren said.

Pettus said he looked at it differently. He said three years is the maximum sentence if a defendant is tried as a juvenile.

“I look at the victim and the victim’s family,” Pettus said. “The child that got killed. They have no chance for the rest of their life. They have no second chance. They’re dead.”

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, offered an amendment that narrowed the scope of the bill, which originally applied to all categories of murder charges.

Under the amendment, judges could still grant youthful offender status on some categories, such as cases in which the defendant is charged with causing death by reckless conduct or extreme indifference to human life.

The amended bill applies only to capital murder and intentional murder charges.

The bill passed by a vote of 67-33. It moves to the Senate.