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2012
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Re-Directing Justice: The Consequences of Prosecuting Youth as Adults and the Need to Restore Judicial Oversight
By Dvorchak, Kim; Swenson, Karina.
Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition (Denver, CO).
The use of “direct filing,” the prosecuting youth as adults, in Colorado is examined. This critical report shows how ineffective and costly direct filing is. Key findings from this study include: 1. Trying youth as adults doesn’t make Colorado safer, but increases the likelihood a teenager will re-offend; 2. Direct file has affected thousands of youth, and the law disproportionately impacts black and Hispanic youth; 3. The vast majority of youth impacted by direct file are not the most serious o... Read More
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102 pages
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2012
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Fact Sheets
Campaign for Youth Justice (Washington, DC).
These fact sheets show how much harm is inflicted on youth prosecuted in adult courts. Twenty-three items are organized according to: key statistics about youth crime (Key Facts—Youth in the Justice System, Chart of Youth Arrests, and Chart of Declining Juvenile Crime Rates and Age-Specific Arrest Rates; youth tried as adults (How a Youth Ends Up in the Adult Justice System, Teen Brains Are Not Fully Developed, Adolescent Brain Development, Comparison of the Juvenile System to the Adult System, ... Read More
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2012
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Falling through the Cracks: A New Look at Ohio Youth in the Adult Criminal Justice System
Children's Law Center, Inc. (Covington, KY).
“[R]ecent research shows that children face long-lasting harms during their time in the adult system and exit adult court more likely to commit a higher number of offenses, and more serious offenses, than similar youth who are retained in the juvenile justice system … Although Ohio has taken a first step toward reducing youths’ contact with the adult criminal justice system, Ohio law still allows many youth to become involved with the adult system. This report focuses on national research and tr... Read More
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16 pages
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2012
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Transfer of Juveniles to Criminal Court is Not Correlated with Falling Youth Violence
By Butts, Jeffrey A..
John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Research and Evaluation Center (New York, NY).
“At first glance, it may appear that the greater use of transfer lowered violent youth crime, but this argument is refuted by a simple analysis of crime trends. In the six states that allow fair comparisons (i.e., where all juveniles ages 16-17 are originally subject to juvenile court jurisdiction and sufficient data exist for the calculations), the use of criminal court transfer bears no relationship to changes in juvenile violence”. This brief goes on to explain why there is no connection betw... Read More
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1 page
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2011
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Minor Transgressions, Major Consequences: A Picture of 17-Year-Olds in the Massachusetts Criminal Justice System
Gardinal Howland Shaw Foundation (Boston, MA); Public Welfare Foundation (Washington, DC).
Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CfJJ) (Boston, MA).
“Every year, Massachusetts sends thousands of high-school-aged kids charged with minor, non-violent offenses into our adult criminal justice system. They are put in the adult system simply because they have turned 17 – despite research showing that treating kids as adults actually increases crime and despite the fact teens incarcerated in the adult system often cannot attend school or receive other age-appropriate services … Massachusetts has a model juvenile justice system equipped to handle a... Read More
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44 pages
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2011
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Juveniles in the Adult Criminal Justice System in Texas
By Deitch, Michele.
University of Texas at Austin. Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs (Austin, TX).
“The common assumption is that certified juveniles [juveniles 14 and older who have committed felony offenses and are transferred to the adult criminal justice system] are the “worst of the worst,” repeat, violent offenders who are beyond the rehabilitation offered by the juvenile justice system. But is this assumption in fact true? This report examines all available Texas data with respect to certified juveniles and compares them to the population of juveniles who receive determinate sentences ... Read More
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58 pages
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2011
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State Trends: Legislative Victories from 2005 to 2010 Removing Youth from the Adult Criminal Justice System
By Arya, Neelum.
Campaign for Youth Justice (Washington, DC).
Reforms that return youth back to juvenile courts, actions supported by public opinion and cost savings, are described. States looking to cut budget deficits will find useful strategies for dealing with these fiscal difficulties. Sections of this report include: how a youth ends up in the adult justice system; overview; understanding the consequences of trying youth as adults—teen brains are not fully developed, most youth are convicted of minor crimes, they are housed in adult facilities, such ... Read More
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52 pages
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2011
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Misguided Measures: The Outcomes and Impacts of Measure 11 on Oregon's Youth
By Ziedenberg, Jason; Ahmad, Imran; Wight, Shannon.
Campaign for Youth Justice (Washington, DC); Partnership for Safety and Justice (Portland, OR).
The effectiveness of Oregon’s Measure 11 reveals the problems with trying juveniles as adults. "Measure 11 requires youth 15 years or older charged with one of 21 crimes to be prosecuted automatically in the adult criminal system and if convicted of that crime, to serve the same mandatory sentence that applies to adults" (p. 3). Nine chapters follow an executive summary: introduction—Measure 11 for juveniles, what we knew then, and what we know now; history—Measure 11 and automatic transfer in O... Read More
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92 pages
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2011
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Trying Juveniles as Adults: An Analysis of State Transfer Laws and Reporting
By Griffin, Patrick; Addie, Sean; Adams, Benjamin; Firestine, Kathy.
U.S. Dept. of Justice. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (Washington, DC).
“In addition to providing the latest overview of state transfer laws and practices, this bulletin comprehensively examines available state-level data on juveniles adjudicated in the criminal justice system” (p. 1). Topics covered include: all states set age levels at where childhood ends and adult criminal responsibility begins; for every 1,000 petitioned delinquency cases, about 9 are waived to criminal court; most states do not track or account for all of their juvenile transfer cases; wide va... Read More
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28 pages
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2010
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The Impact of Prosecuting Youth in the Adult Criminal Justice System: A Review of the Literature
University of California, Los Angeles. School of Law. Juvenile Justice Project (Los Angeles, CA).
Anyone interested in how youth are affected by the adult criminal justice system will find this publication very informative. This report is comprised of ten sections: introduction; methodology; which juveniles are transferred; transfer’s impact on culpability; transfer’s impact on the probability of incarceration; transfer’s impact on the length of incarceration; transfer’s impact on the location of incarceration; transfer’s impact on processing time; transfer’s impact on deterrence and recidiv... Read More
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131 pages
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2010
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Unlocking the Truth: Real Stories About the Trial and Incarceration of Youth as Adults in Virginia
By Duvall, Kate.
Legal Aid Justice Center. JustChildren (Charlottesville, VA).
“JustChildren advocates [have] repeatedly received requests from policymakers and others around the state for the “real” stories of how the practice of trying and incarcerating youth as adults impacts youth, families, and communities. In an effort to deliver on these requests and to tell the untold and often overlooked stories of these youth, JustChildren has compiled this report” (p. 3). What makes this publication so unique is that affected parties, be they youth, family, friends, or justice p... Read More
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28 pages
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2009
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From Time Out to Hard Time: Young Children in the Adult Criminal Justice System
By Deitch, Michele; Barstow, Amanda; Lukens, Leslie; Reyna, Ryan.
University of Texas at Austin. Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs (Austin, TX).
“This report provides the first-ever comprehensive look at how the nation treats young children who commit serious crimes, analyzes the available data with regard to the transfer of young children to adult criminal court, documents the extremely harsh and tragic consequences that follow when young children go into the adult criminal justice system, examines international practices, and offers policy recommendations to address this situation” (p. xiii). Chapters in addition to an executive summar... Read More
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116 p.
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