NCJ Number
187361
Journal
Journal of Juvenile Law Volume: 20 Dated: 1999 Pages: 82-107
Editor(s)
Tonya K. Cole
Date Published
1999
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This article examines the juvenile justice system and the decision-making process of sending a juvenile to adult criminal court, and to understand how personal prejudices and feelings of racism can influence the decision.
Abstract
With the changing attitude toward juvenile offenders, juvenile courts transfer more juveniles to adult criminal court where the court may impose more severe and longer sentences. Several factors come under consideration in deciding whether to transfer a juvenile to adult criminal court. Some factors include age, present offense, past record, weapons used, severity of harm to victims, and gender. Another important factor considered when transferring a juvenile to adult court is race. Juvenile offenders of all races are subject to personal prejudices and racist feelings which may impact the punishment they must endure. Because of the filters in place in the prosecutor’s decision-making process, a prosecutor seeking a fitness hearing is not exposed to the juvenile offender’s identity and racial or ethnic background in the majority of cases. On the other hand, at the most crucial stage in the process where the juvenile can be sent to adult criminal court, he/she is subject to the judge’s discretion. The statistical evidence suggests that over-representation is lowest at the arrest stage, with increasing levels occurring as the juvenile progresses in the juvenile system. The data is construed as an indication of racial bias in the juvenile justice system. Because decision-makers can pay attention to an offender’s characteristics, there is risk that one of the characteristics that will influence decision-making is the offender’s race. The study suggests that filters in place for the prosecutor should be in place at other stages throughout the juvenile justice system to eliminate possible infiltration of prejudice and racism.