Free Essays on Juvenile Transfers

National trends in juvenile justice discuss how juveniles should be tried, whether it is in a juvenile or a criminal court. Juveniles can be tried in all 50 states. Juvenile’s age varies from state to state when dealing with transfers. The group of offenses that can send a juvenile in the direction of criminal court is: any crime, capital crimes and murder, specified violent felonies, and specified crimes plus a prior record. There are three types of transfer laws: automatic, judicial-discretionary, and prosecutorial-discretionary. The automatic transfer law is a law stating that any juvenile who commits either murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, rape, aggravated assault, arson, or any crimes committed with a fire arm. In many instances the older the juvenile is, the more likely he or she will be transferred to adult court for the above felonies. The judicial-discretionary juvenile law is when the prosecutor files a petition or motion with the juvenile court and the judge decides whether to transfer the case or not. The other option is prosecutorial-discretionary juvenile law; this is when the prosecutor uses his or her discretion to decide whether to file a case in juvenile or criminal court. The sentencing of juveniles in criminal court varies. It has been found that a large number of incarcerations will lead to few prison sentences and a lot of probation. It seems that criminal courts are a lot less likely to incarcerate juvenile offenders. Even if a juvenile is transferred to criminal court, he or she is likely to spend only a fraction of the given sentence. Studies found that the average prison time for a juvenile sentenced in adult facilities is 3.5 years, which is only about 27% of the imposed sentence. Sentences given in juvenile court may initially be shorter, but the juveniles have a much smaller chance of getting out early. Studies also found that the practice of transferring juvenile offenders to criminal court... Free Essays on Juvenile Transfers Free Essays on Juvenile Transfers National trends in juvenile justice discuss how juveniles should be tried, whether it is in a juvenile or a criminal court. Juveniles can be tried in all 50 states. Juvenile’s age varies from state to state when dealing with transfers. The group of offenses that can send a juvenile in the direction of criminal court is: any crime, capital crimes and murder, specified violent felonies, and specified crimes plus a prior record. There are three types of transfer laws: automatic, judicial-discretionary, and prosecutorial-discretionary. The automatic transfer law is a law stating that any juvenile who commits either murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, rape, aggravated assault, arson, or any crimes committed with a fire arm. In many instances the older the juvenile is, the more likely he or she will be transferred to adult court for the above felonies. The judicial-discretionary juvenile law is when the prosecutor files a petition or motion with the juvenile court and the judge decides whether to transfer the case or not. The other option is prosecutorial-discretionary juvenile law; this is when the prosecutor uses his or her discretion to decide whether to file a case in juvenile or criminal court. The sentencing of juveniles in criminal court varies. It has been found that a large number of incarcerations will lead to few prison sentences and a lot of probation. It seems that criminal courts are a lot less likely to incarcerate juvenile offenders. Even if a juvenile is transferred to criminal court, he or she is likely to spend only a fraction of the given sentence. Studies found that the average prison time for a juvenile sentenced in adult facilities is 3.5 years, which is only about 27% of the imposed sentence. Sentences given in juvenile court may initially be shorter, but the juveniles have a much smaller chance of getting out early. Studies also found that the practice of transferring juvenile offenders to criminal court...