What are the Pros and Cons of trying juveniles as adults in criminal cases?
Nearly all once an adult/always an adut provisions stipulate that the juvenile involved must have been convicted of the offense that triggered the adult prosecution. In California, however, this is not always necessary; a subsequent charge that would ordinarily require a fitness hearing in juvenile court may be filed directly in criminal court if the juvenile involved was previously declared unfit for juvenile handling and transferred to criminal court — even if no conviction followed the original transfer — provided the original unfitness determination was based on criteria (the juvenile’s delinquency history, failure of rehabilitation attempts, or both) unrelated to the juvenile’s guilt or innocence of the previous charge. Likewise, in Delaware, the law does not require a conviction in the original case, provided a court (either the juvenile court in a discretionary waiver hearing or the criminal court following a reverse waiver request) had the opportunity to make a determination
Two assumptions are behind recent legislation passed in many U.S. states which make it easier to try juvenile offenders as adults. * Young offenders will receive sentences in the adult criminal system which are harsher and more proportional to their crimes. * The threat of this harsher punishment will result in lowered juvenile crime rates. Although there has not been extensive research into the deterrent effects of the stricter laws, the evidence that does exist indicates that deterrent effects are minimal or nonexistent, and that, in fact, trying juveniles in criminal court may actually result in higher rates of reoffending. Do juveniles receive stiffer sentences when they are tried as adults? To date, there’s no extensive research comparing the lengths of prison sentences received by juveniles convicted in criminal court with those who remained in the juvenile system. What research exists indicates that juveniles convicted in criminal court, particularly serious and violent offender
Nearly all once an adult/always an adut provisions stipulate that the juvenile involved must have been convicted of the offense that triggered the adult prosecution. In California, however, this is not always necessary; a subsequent charge that would ordinarily require a fitness hearing in juvenile court may be filed directly in criminal court if the juvenile involved was previously declared unfit for juvenile handling and transferred to criminal court — even if no conviction followed the original transfer — provided the original unfitness determination was based on criteria (the juvenile’s delinquency history, failure of rehabilitation attempts, or both) unrelated to the juvenile’s guilt or innocence of the previous charge. Likewise, in Delaware, the law does not require a conviction in the original case, provided a court (either the juvenile court in a discretionary waiver hearing or the criminal court following a reverse waiver request) had the opportunity to make a determination
