Unit VI: Juveniles to Adult

Court: Children or

Adults?

IntroductionIn Unit VI, “Juveniles to Adult Court: Children or Adults?” we will analyze and discuss the controversial and complex issue of whether juveniles should be sent to adult courts and filtered through the adult criminal justice system and process. When reading through the Unit VI readings and videos, you will want to keep the following questions in mind:

Should all juveniles be tried only in juvenile

courts?

Under what circumstances, if any,

should a juvenile delinquent be tried in

an adult court?

At what age do juveniles understand and/or have the cognitive ability to

make decisions between right and

wrong?

Little John: A Juvenile’s Story

• Watch the video linked below about Little John, a juvenile.

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/csu_content/courses/emergency_services/bcj/bcj2201/15K/video/unitvi_video.mp4

• Click here to access the transcript for this video.

Rational Choice Theory

• If you remember from Unit III, “Criminological Theories,” you learned about rational choice theory as it related to juvenile delinquency in the United States.

• You may want to revisit the Unit III readings to have a comprehensive understanding of this week’s readings.

Second Chances

• The main mission of the juvenile justice system is to provide

juveniles with the right tools to help them succeed in life.

• By offering a second chance ideology, juvenile justice

professionals are able to provide prevention and intervention

methods along with deterrent programs.

• However, are some acts so heinous in nature that the idea of

supporting a second chance back into society is unthinkable?

The move to send more children into the adult criminal justice

system is a radical rethinking of the traditional view that

delinquent children need help to turn their lives around and

belong in a system that focuses primarily on rehabilitation rather

than punishment. (Young & Gainsborough, 2000, p. 10)

Children or Adults

• The controversy is fueled by the disagreement over what age children start to have a logical thought process and reasoning.

• At what age do children know the difference between right and wrong and the consequences of their actions?

• We must look at the cognitive makeup of children and remember the cognitive ability and maturity of children do not always provide a clear and concise answer to the question of age.

• Most criminologists would argue that juvenile delinquents should be held accountable for their behavior.

Children or Adults

• However, there is a clear divide on whether to transfer juveniles to the adult court system as this also changes the options for punishment.

• “Judges in adult court do not have the wide range of punishment and treatment options that are available to juvenile court judges—such as imposing a curfew or ordering counseling instead of jail time” (Michon, n.d., para. 11).

Judicial Waivers

• How does a transfer from the juvenile court system to the adult system happen?

• Each state has its own laws that govern the transfer to adult court.

• In this discussion, you will learn about an important term in the transfer process called waiver.

• A waiver is when a judge abandons the protections that juvenile courts provide, and “Usually, juvenile cases that are subject to waiver involve more serious crimes or minors who have been in trouble before” (Michon, n.d., para. 1).

Judicial Waivers

Figure 1: Offending by Juveniles(Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP], n.d.)

The following diagram shows the proportion of victims killed by juvenile offenders from 1980-2013.

Judicial Waivers

• Some states allow for a waiver to adult court for any criminal act and/or behavior, while other states only permit a waiver to adult court for specific criminal acts determined in the statutes.

• States also take into account prior criminal convictions.

• There are currently three main, specific types of waivers that we will discuss:

Judicial waiver

Concurrent jurisdiction or prosecutorial

discretion

State exclusion

Judicial Waivers

Figure 2: Juvenile age of jurisdiction and transfer to adult court laws(Teigen, 2014)

The following diagram shows the average age of juveniles transferred to adult court.

Judicial Waivers

• First, judicial waiver to adult court is the most common and widely used. “Judicial waiver is the most popular method; 47 States and the District of Columbia provide judicial discretion to waive certain juveniles to criminal court” (OJJDP, 1997, para. 11).

• Judicial waivers include examining the juvenile’s age, offense, maturity level, relationship with parents, and school performance; determining whether the juvenile is a danger to society; and/or determining if the juvenile justice system will be more beneficial in deterring future criminal acts.

• Typically, a judge will make the decision of whether a judicial waiver to adult court is required.

Judicial Waivers

Figure 3: Juvenile arrest and judicial waiver trends(Griffin, Addie, Adams, & Firestine, 2011)

The following chart shows trends for judicial waivers.

Prosecutorial Discretion Waivers

• The second type of waiver used is prosecutorial discretion, which allows for states to have a concurrent jurisdiction, meaning jurisdiction of the case can be placed in the juvenile court or adult court system.

• “Original jurisdiction for certain cases is shared by both criminal and juvenile courts, and the prosecutor has discretion to file such cases in either court” (“All States Allow,” 2003, para. 3).

Prosecutorial Discretion Waivers

• The most important factor in prosecutorial discretion is the age of the juvenile.

• Most states that allow for prosecutorial discretion indicate an age range between 14-16 years old.

Prosecutorial Discretion Waivers

Figure 4(Griffin, Addie, Adams, & Firestine, 2011)

The table below shows the likelihood of juvenile felons being convicted of violent offenses (more so than their adult counterparts).

Statutory Exclusion Waivers

• “Under statutory exclusion provisions, cases originate in criminal rather than juvenile court” (“All States Allow,” 2003, para. 4).

• Once a youth is sent to the adult court system, tried, and convicted of the criminal offense(s), what is the next step in the process?

• When examining this next section, think of a juvenile and what his or her life would be like behind a prison wall.

• If you watched the video about Little John earlier, you should start to have an understanding of the prison environment for juveniles housed in these correctional facilities.

Statutory Exclusion Waivers

• Prosecution in criminal court exposes juveniles to the same penalties as adults.

• Juveniles “may face a life or death sentence, incarceration in State prison, and a permanent criminal record” (OJJDP, 1997, para. 30).

• Juveniles, whether in prison or not, are considered a protected population.

Statutory Exclusion Waivers

• Institutionalized juveniles will be subject to the harsh environment found in the adult prison system.

• This includes, but is not limited to, prison overcrowding, victimization, sexual and physical assault, gang membership, and/or suicide.

• In some cases, juveniles are put into protected custody within the adult prison until they reach the age of eighteen, at which time, they are released into the general prison population.

• The idea of a second chance is no longer an option and must be weighed carefully.

Statutory Exclusion Waivers

• When examining the complex and controversial issue of whether to transfer a juvenile delinquent to adult court, we must also analyze the other side of the debate.

• Are some crimes so heinous in nature that no matter the age of the juvenile, prison is the only option?

• Currently, juveniles cannot be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for nonhomicide crimes, as decided in Graham v. Florida.

Statutory Exclusion Waivers

• The U.S. Supreme Court, in Miller v. Alabama, decided that the mandatory sentence of LWOP for a juvenile offender found guilty of homicide is unconstitutional as it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

• Additionally, the Court declared that LWOP was a disproportionate sentence for a child.

• The significance of this case is that the Court did not necessarily ban LWOP for juveniles, but rather they declared LWOP cannot be mandatory.

• Instead, the Court stated that judges must take into account the juvenile’s age; hence, the sentence cannot be mandatory as mandatory implies limited judicial discretion.

Children or Adults?

Figure 5: States that have banned or limited the use of juvenile life

without parole sentences, 2016(Rovner, 2016)

References

All states allow juveniles to be tried as adults in criminal court under certain circumstances. (2003, June). OJJDP National Report Series Bulletin. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/195420/page4.html

Griffin, P., Addie, S., Adams, B., & Firestine, K. (2011, September). Trying juveniles as adults: An analysis of state transfer laws and reporting. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: National Report Series. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/232434.pdf

Michon, K. (n.d.). When juveniles are tried in adult criminal court. Retrieved from http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/juveniles-youth-adult-criminal-court-32226.html

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (n.d.). Statistical briefing book: Offending by juveniles. Retrieved from http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/offenders/qa03106.asp?qaDate=2013

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (1997). Juvenile transfer to criminal court. In Juvenile justice reform initiatives in the states 1994-1996. Retrieved from http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/reform/ch2_j.html

References

Rovner, J. (2016). Juvenile life without parole: An overview [Policy brief]. Retrieved from http://sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/jj_Juvenile_Life_Without_Parole.pdf

Teigen, A. (2014). Juvenile age of jurisdiction and transfer to adult court laws. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/juvenile-age-of-jurisdiction-and-transfer-to-adult-court-laws.aspx

Young, M., & Gainsborough, J. (2000). Prosecuting juveniles in adult court: An assessment of trends and consequences. Retrieved from http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/sp/juvenile.pdf