Identify and discuss the three ways states allow juveniles to be tried as adults in criminal courts

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• Concurrent jurisdiction. In 14 states and the District of Columbia, the prosecutor has the discretion of filing charges for certain offenses in either juvenile or criminal court.
• Statutory exclusion policies. In 29 states, certain offenses are automatically excluded from juvenile court. These offenses can be minor, such as traffic violations, or serious, such as murder or rape. Statutory exclusion accounts for the largest number of juveniles tried as adults.
• Judicial waiver. In the waiver (or bind over or removal) of juvenile cases to criminal court, a hearing is held before a juvenile court judge, who then decides whether jurisdiction should be waived and the case transferred to criminal court. Forty-four states and the District of Columbia (not Connecticut, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, or New York) offer provisions for juvenile waivers.