I’ve written so many blog posts about my disgust with prosecutors charging juveniles as adults. (Do a search on juvenile justice on this blog to read a few).
My views on this issue normally don’t get much support, in fact, most folks think I’m crazy for even suggesting a teen who commits a heinous crime should just accept ‘doing the time for committing an ‘adult’ crime.’ In my simple mind, if the juvenile justice system can’t handle all crimes a juvenile commits, it’s a failed system.
My research concludes that on any given day, dozens of children ages 14-17 are housed in adult jails in counties across Pennsylvania while facing charges in adult court.
Most will see their cases dismissed or moved to juvenile proceedings, but not before they spend weeks, months or even years locked up with adults.
Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer shares a story from a guy who was sent to adult jail as a juvenile and convincingly supports my view that there’s gotta be a better way. He also sheds light on a new initiative that may get introduced in the PA legislation to correct this flaw in the justice system.
Can you image being 16 and charged as an adult and put in adult jail? This guy had never been arrested before, and suddenly found himself in a dirty cell, with $200,000 bail and no idea what was going to happen. He was held in an adult jail for eight months — his entire junior year of high school — before a judge decided to “decertify” his case and transfer it to juvenile court. Once his case reached juvenile court, the matter was resolved within a month and he was allowed to return home on probation, reenroll in school, get a part-time job, and continue with his life.
What the stats says is…
- Youth prosecuted as adults have far higher recidivism rates than youth whose cases remain in the juvenile system.
- While Black teenagers make up only 14% of Pennsylvania’s youth population, they account for 58% of youth prosecuted as adults.
- When a young person commits harm, the answer is not to harm that young person in response — we all lose in that equation.
The system seems so backwards to me. I’d think that all juveniles would be charged as a juvenile until some judge determines they should be moved to adult justice, but, as you can see, it usually works in an opposite fashion. As the article describes, it all started…
In 1995, fueled by the racist and widely discredited “superpredator” myth, Pennsylvania lawmakers passed Act 33, known as “direct file” because it allows cases to be filed against children directly in adult court, without review by a judge. Many prosecutors interpret this law to mean they must charge anyone 15 and older in adult court for certain charges. The burden is then on the young person and their defense attorney to prove that they can be treated in the juvenile system.
Act 33 requires people between the ages of 15 and 17 charged with certain felonies — like robbery or aggravated assault — to be charged in adult court if they meet certain requirements, such as the use of a weapon during the alleged crime. Anyone younger than 15 charged in the same cases will be sent through the juvenile system. Prior to Act 33, criminal homicide was the only charge ranking above infractions like traffic tickets that automatically pulled people younger than 18 into adult court.
The Inquirer article states that Pennsylvania lawmakers have a chance to change this, and to make sure no other children experience the trauma and isolation the author faced. The Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice Task Force thinks like me and wants to end Pennsylvania’s direct file laws so that all children’s cases originate in the juvenile system. They further recommended stricter limits on when a child’s case can be transferred to adult court, and barring the prosecution of anyone under age 16 as an adult. If enacted into law, these recommendations would still allow a juvenile court judge to transfer some cases to adult court, but they would prevent the unnecessary harm caused when hundreds of children are automatically sent into the adult system. This would put the burden on prosecutors to demonstrate why a young person should be charged as an adult, instead of on young people to prove they should be treated as children.
Pennsylvania was one of 19 states that allowed minors to be sentenced to death and in 2005, it took the US Supreme Court to abolished capital punishment for juvenile offenders, ruling 5-4 that it is unconstitutional to sentence anyone to death for a crime he or she committed under the age of 18. Their sentences where reduced to life without parole.
What’s your take on kids being charged as adults by default?
Chester Matters Blog 
I’m going to give you a different scenario on the Juvenile Justice System. The majority of the Juvenile’s cases that are transferred to the Adult System are repeat offenders …and their prior offenses are Felonies. The Juvenile Court System is not perfect to say the least. Prior to transferring the Juvenile to the Adult System, Juvenile Court must adhere to the Statues Governing the Laws and make a RECOMMENDATION to the Court to determine if the Juvenile is AMENABLE TO TREATMENT based upon the following CRITERIA’S ; 1) Age of Juvenile. 2) Prior Adjudications, 3) Psychological Risk Assessment, Psychiatry Evaluation, Psycho-Sexual Evaluation, Comprehensive FireRisk Evaluation, just to name a few depending upon the Crimes. In addition to the Crime; Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys are often in a “STALEMATE” based upon the child’s FAMILY DYNAMICS; which also plays a crucial role in monitoring the Juvenile.
Parents want to blame the Courts for their children’s involvement with the Juvenile Court System..when in REALITY the PARENTS are responsible for the acts of their children!!
Until the COURTS and LAWMAKERS draft new Legislation to address “PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THEIR CHILDREN’S CRIMES “ Our Tax Dollars will continue to foot the Bills for YOUTHS in need of “REHABILITATION!”
THE PARENTS ARE GOING TO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE AND LIABLE FOR THEIR CHILDREN’ until they reach the age of twenty-one.
In the event the Juvenile is DIAGNOSED WITH A MENTAL ILLNESS THAT IMPEDES HIS OR HERS CRITICAL THINKING; and JUDGMENT; then the PRESIDING JUDGE will have to make the FINAL DECISION WITH RESPECT TO WHAT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD AND THE COMMUNITY!
As a general rule the Attorney representing the Juvenile will File an Appeal to Superior Court with hopes of OVERTURNING THE LOWER COURTS DECISION.
In order for a Juvenile to receive FAIR and UNBIASED REPRESENTATION in any Court of Law;; THE JUVENILE LAW CENTER must JOIN THE RANKS AND TRIAL TEAMS of each and every JUVENILE COURT DEPARTMENT within the COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA! THE JUVENILE LAW CENTER OF PHILADELPHIA has the best Trial Team of Attorney’s that will navigate the Juvenile towards a favorable outcome for all parties involved with the court hearing. This is the best case scenario in preventing Juveniles from being transferred to the ADULT SYSTEM; with the EXCEPTION OF CAPITAL MURDER.
Once again until we TEACH OUR CHILDREN HOW TO CONDUCT THEMSELVES IN A RESPONSIBLE AND RESPECTFUL MANNER at all times; according to the BIBLE and HOLY QURAN; we as PARENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR MISDEEDS! THEREFORE IT DOES NOT TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO DO THE MATH.
One more thing; many juvenile families have the FINANCIAL MEANS TO PAY FOR THEIR CHILDREN’S CRIMES . THE JUVENILE’S Attorneys will negotiate a FAVORABLE OUTCOME FOR THE JUVENILE…and in most cases the Juvenile will be GRANTED A CONSENT DECREE. Statistics have proven that the Financial means of the parents coincides with the PUNISHMENT OR REHABILITATION OF THEIR CHILD.