THE IMPACT ON SOCIETY OF THE INCREASING THE NUMBER OF
CASES WHERE JUVENILES ARE TRIED AS ADULTS
The impact on the court system should be minimal if juvenile offenders of serious crimes are tried adults in the criminal court system, rather than in juvenile court. The transformation of the juvenile court has evolved to a point where there is little difference between the procedures of juvenile court and criminal court.
The juvenile system was designed in the late 1950s to rehabilitate youngsters who became "a bit wayward." That type of juvenile offender has all but disappeared and in its place has evolved a sophisticated, violent youngster who has little regard for human life.
The differences in the procedures and sanctions of the juvenile court system and the criminal court system is discussed below, with a discussion of the benefits and advantages of trying serious offenders who are teenagers as adults.
The Second Section which follows discusses the differences between processing juveniles in the juvenile system and in processing adults in criminal courts.
The Third Section addresses the differences in the outcome and sentencing of minors and adults.
The Fourth Section considers the differences in the court procedures, criteria and rules applied to minors and to adults.
The Fifth Section compares the use of alternatives to incarceration between juveniles and adults.
The Sixth and Seventh Sections examine, respectively, the benefits and disadvantages to society of trying juveniles as adults.
The Eighth, and final, Section analyzes the projected impact on California courts of trying juveniles as adults.
II. Waiver of Juvenile Court Jurisdiction
The decision as to whether juvenile defendants should be prosecuted as adults is critical, for both the juvenile justice system and the youths accused of serious crimes. "On the one hand, this decision represents an acknowledgment that the juvenile...