NCJ Number
229165
Date Published
November 2008
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This paper provides an analysis of the current juvenile transfer laws and the future use of transfers within the juvenile justice system.
Abstract
Today, transfer (prosecuting some juvenile-age offenders as adults in criminal court and sanctioning them in the adult correctional system) is regarded as a prominent feature of America's approach to juvenile offending. Transfer, in some form, is now probably a permanent feature of American juvenile justice. There are three types of transfer law: judicial waiver laws, statutory exclusion laws, and prosecutorial discretion. In addition to these three basic types of transfer law, many States have "once an adult/always an adult" laws, reverse waiver laws, and blended sentencing laws. This report makes an effort to layout the current landscape of laws governing the trial, sentencing, and sanctioning of juveniles as adults, summarize the transfer laws of all 50 States and the District of Columbia as of the beginning of 2008, explore the data on the volume and characteristics of youth who are being transferred under these laws, and examine ways in which transfer laws can be improved upon, suggesting simple measures that States can take to make them more fair, flexible, and consistent. Table, figures, and endnotes