NCJ Number
208350
Journal
Criminology & Public Policy Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2004 Pages: 605-632
Date Published
November 2004
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This study examined the decisionmaking process to certify a juvenile offender to adult court under “prosecutorial certification” in Virginia for intake cases in 1997 and 1998.
Abstract
In 1996, the Virginia legislature enacted the Juvenile Justice Reform Package to deal with swelling violent juvenile crime rates. The legislation created two new classes of transfers: automatic and prosecutorial certifications, which allow a juvenile offender to be either automatically transferred to adult criminal court based on the offense or allow a prosecutor to certify a juvenile directly to adult circuit court. The current study drew on data from 2,675 cases that came into intake in fiscal years 1997 and 1998 and that met criteria for either automatic or prosecutorial certification to adult circuit court in order to examine the factors associated with prosecutorial certification decisionmaking. Among the data examined were current offense, criminal record, social history, demographic variables, and locational factors. Results of logistic regression analyses indicated three main results: (1) only a small percentage of certification-eligible cases were certified by prosecutors; (2) variation in transfer practices was discovered across the court service units; and (3) more serious cases were waived. The variation in transfer practices noted across localities underscores the importance of location in waiver decisions. More urban areas tend to have more formalized juvenile justice systems, while smaller jurisdictions tend to deal with juvenile offenders more informally. The decision to use prosecutorial certification in Virginia was thus found to be based partly on offense severity and partly on location of offense. Policy implications are discussed. Figures, tables, references