WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The recent murder trials of two 14-year-old boys are prompting new criticism of Florida's get-tough laws aimed at prosecuting violent youths as adults.

"Florida has overreacted, as many states have, to what was perceived to be a juvenile justice crisis in the early '90s," said State Attorney Harry Shorstein in Jacksonville, who opposes mandatory sentences.

In Florida, juveniles convicted of first-degree murder receive an automatic sentence of life in prison with no parole, same as adults. Defendants as young as 17 can get the death penalty, and voters next year may lower that to 16.

Detractors say the mandatory sentencing requirements prevent judges and prosecutors from offering leniency to juveniles, even when they believe rehabilitation is possible.

Gov. Jeb Bush, a Republican, said this week that he believes a defendant's age should be a factor in sentencing. And prosecutors who won the murder convictions of the two teen-agers, Lionel Tate and Nathaniel Brazill, both said they back changes in sentencing rules.

Whether the GOP-controlled Legislature will loosen the laws is another question.

"Politically, it may be more expedient to continue the get-tough approach," Shorstein said. "It's simpler and it's popular when you have a conservative constituency."

Republican state Rep. Randy Ball said he believes teen murderers have an "element of evil" that prevents rehabilitation, despite their age.

"When you deal with a kind of kid like Brazill, who ruefully executes a human being, the risks are too high to justify ever returning him to society," he said.

Spurred by an alarming rise in juvenile crime, Florida changed its laws during the late 1980s and 1990s to make it easier to try youths as adults. Florida is one of just 15 states that gives prosecutors the authority to send youths to the adult system.

Florida leads the nation in doling out adult punishments to youthful offenders. In 1998, Florida had 572 juveniles in adult prisons — more than any other state. Connecticut followed with 505, compared with 272 in Texas, 316 in New York and 163 in California.

Five years ago, 5,350 Florida juveniles were tried as adults. The number has dropped slightly in the past two years, reflecting a nationwide drop in crime.

James Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston, said most voters nationally indicate they want young killers locked up.

"I don't think the public is fed up at all," he said. "The reason we are in this get-tough mode right now is because the public was so frustrated and angry as what they saw as the juvenile justice system was soft on crime."

The case that put the spotlight on Florida's juvenile justice system involved Tate, who was 12 when he beat a 6-year-old family friend to death while imitating pro wrestlers. He was convicted in January of first-degree murder and, as mandated, sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole.

Brazill was convicted this week of second-degree murder for fatally shooting his English teacher between the eyes minutes before school was dismissed for the summer last year. He was 13 at the time. He now faces a sentence of 25 years to life, though defense attorneys say the judge can impose a lesser term.

The prosecutor in the Tate trial, Ken Padowitz, said he pushed for a first-degree murder conviction and a life sentence because he believed that was what the law required.

But after the boy's sentencing, Padowitz said he would tell Bush that Tate's life term should be commuted and that he supports legislation to give prosecutors and judges more flexibility when sentencing juveniles.

In the Brazill case, prosecutor Barry Krischer said the law forced him to pursue adult charges. He said he would like judges to have the option of sentencing juveniles under 16 who are convicted of first-degree murder to 25 years in prison.

He even drafted legislation allowing judges to impose a combination of terms in juvenile and adult prisons. Democratic state Rep. James Harper introduced the bill during the recent legislative term then withdrew it, in part because he believed lawmakers weren't ready to appear soft on crime.

Harper said he plans to reintroduce the measure.

"It was a national Republican agenda to be tough on crime," Harper said. "When you don't have the numbers to support some of the tough actions or sanctions that we're taking, it's hard to maintain that posture."

Other changes could be on the horizon.

State Sen. Walter Campbell, a Democrat, said he will propose a bill that would put killers under 16 in separate juvenile prisons until they turn 21. Then a judge could re-evaluate their sentences.

"Unless we had the Tate case and the Brazill case, both which are heinous crimes, I don't think the public would have understood this is a major problem in our juvenile justice system," he said.

"Do we really want to punish these kids as adults or do we want to say these are children and they will be rehabilitated?"