NCJ Number
231955
Journal
Criminology Volume: 48 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2010 Pages: 725-758
Date Published
August 2010
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This study examined the punishment of juveniles transferred to adult court.
Abstract
The study outlined in this article addressed a key limitation of prior research on the punishment of juveniles transferred to adult court by employing propensity score matching techniques to create more comparable samples of juvenile and young adult offenders. Using recent data from the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy, it tested competing theoretical propositions about the salience of juvenile status in adult court. Findings indicate that even after rigorous statistical matching procedures, juvenile offenders are punished more severely than their young adult counterparts. No evidence was found that this "juvenile penalty" is exacerbated by an offender's race or gender, but it does vary starkly across offense type and mode of transfer, being driven primarily by drug crimes and discretionary waivers. The import of these findings is discussed as they relate to the future of juvenile justice policy regarding the continued use of juvenile transfer to adult court. Tables, references, and appendix (Published Abstract)