How do minors get tried as adults

Youth services would have to work with the juvenile offender for a long time. Waiver Petition Procedures There are three ways that transfer proceedings can usually begin—the most common is through the prosecutor's request. To make this decision, the judge will often hear evidence on the minor's: background juvenile court record, and willingness to get treatment in the juvenile system.

Automatic Transfer Laws and Reverse Transfer Hearings Some states have "automatic transfer" laws that require juvenile cases to be transferred to adult criminal court if both of the following are true.

The offender is a certain age or older usually The charges involve a serious or violent offense, such as rape or murder.

Pros and Cons of Transfer to Adult Criminal Court Usually, juveniles and their attorneys fight to keep a case in juvenile court. Advantages of Adult Criminal Court Sometimes, it can be advantageous for a juvenile to be tried in adult court. Minors have the right to a jury trial in adult court most states do not provide a right to a jury in juvenile court see— Do juveniles have a right to trial by jury?

Juries in adult court may be more sympathetic to a minor. In some jurisdictions where dockets and jails are crowded, the court may be inclined to dispose of the juvenile's case more quickly and impose a lighter sentence.

Disadvantages of Adult Criminal Court Some of the disadvantages for juveniles in adult court include the following: The juvenile is subject to more severe sentences. 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.

The juvenile may have to serve time in adult jail or prison, rather than in juvenile detention centers. A conviction in adult criminal court carries more social stigma than a juvenile court judgment does. Adult criminal records are harder to seal than juvenile court records—sealing or "expunging" records makes them unavailable to the public.

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Simmons , Graham v. Florida , J. North Carolina , Miller v. Alabama , Montgomery v. Punishing children the same way we punish adults does not advance public safety.

Research also shows that as youth mature, they are substantially less likely to re-offend; locking children up for years will extend their incarceration well beyond the time needed for them to be rehabilitated.

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Connecting …. Are You a Lawyer? Even before charges have been filed, speak with an attorney before allowing law enforcement officers or representatives to interview or question a child about a criminal matter. Also make sure to ask the attorney whether the child's record, at some point, can be expunged or sealed. The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site.

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Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. Market Your Law Firm. Lawyer Directory. Call us at 1 Who Decides to Try a Juvenile as an Adult? Purpose of the Juvenile Justice System The juvenile justice system is very different from the adult criminal justice system because juvenile justice focuses on rehabilitation, while the adult system focuses primarily on punishment.

Adjudication of Delinquency In juvenile courts, a child accused of a crime is not convicted of a crime nor sentenced to jail or prison. When Can a Child Be Tried as an Adult In the American justice system, there are three types of legal provisions under which children can be tried as adults.

Waiver or Transfer Almost every state has a provision that gives the judge in juvenile court discretion to transfer any case to adult court. Factors that may influence the judge's decision or a prosecutor's request to transfer a juvenile case to adult court include: the seriousness of the offense and whether the child caused serious harm to another person the age of the juvenile the juvenile's record of criminal activity, and whether the juvenile is amenable to treatment.

Someone not amenable would be a juvenile who has already received counseling and other services but continued to commit crimes, showing that the rehabilitative response of the juvenile system has not worked and isn't likely to work in the future.

Statutory or Legislative Exclusion In some states, the law requires that certain serious crimes, such as murder, offenses punishable by death or life in prison, and serious crimes involving harm to another person be charged in adult court even if the defendant is a minor.

Concurrent Jurisdiction In most states, the adult criminal court has no jurisdiction in cases involving a juvenile defendant.