From The Sentencing Project:
Automatic charging or "auto-charging" is one of several pathways that send people under 18 years old into the adult criminal legal system. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have automatic charging provisions.
The youth justice system was created because youth are different from adults. State departments of juvenile justice have purpose clauses affirming that rehabilitation is their primary goal. In the youth justice system, youth have access to developmentally appropriate services that are not available in the adult criminal legal system. Sending youth to the adult criminal justice system, for any offense, harms youth wellbeing and community safety.
A better understanding of adolescent development has contributed to a nationwide decline in youth incarcerated in adult prisons and jails, from a peak of 14,500 in 1997 to 2,513 in 2023. At the same time, 29,300 were held in juvenile justice facilities. Policymakers should work to advance, rather than reverse, this progress and reject mechanisms, such as automatic charging, that funnel children into the adult criminal legal system.
Read the full report here.
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