ArtCARE: Outreach to Juveniles in Adult Jails   about project | exhibit | read media | writings| see mural

Background - Juveniles in Adult Jails

The juvenile justice system as developed over 100 years ago, was based upon the social fact that children are not fully developed moral beings and should not be treated like adults. That philosophy holds children accountable for their offenses, but does not treat them as adult criminals, but rather balances consequences and punishment with rehabilitation and redemption. On the other hand, the underlying premise of the direct file is that children are mini-adults and become mini-adults by virtue of their bad acts. The power of the prosecutor to direct file a child 14 or older for most felonies comes from a law that authorizes them to make unilateral decisions about transferring juvenile cases to adult court. That decision requires no explanation and cannot be reviewed by a judge or a higher court. Once direct filed, many transferred youths in Miami-Dade County spend months in the TGK facility awaiting resolution of their cases. These are the youths that participated in the ArtCARE project. Scientific research indicates that juveniles of similar age, prior record and criminal charges who were given appropriate juvenile penalties re-offended less often than those who were sent to adult court and given adult penalties. See A DJJ Success Story, Trends in Transfer of Juveniles to Adult Criminal Court, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, January 2002, http://www.djj.state.fl.us/special/transfersummary.pdf. It is believed that juvenile programs, such as Bay Point, a long-term juvenile commitment program, have significantly better records of reducing crime among young offenders. Those juvenile programs are successful because they offer support, education, guidance and aftercare services as the youngsters enter adulthood. In spite of this research, in fiscal year 1999-2000 Florida transferred over 3,000 juveniles to adult court.

Become Informed ABA Juvenile Justice Center 740 15th street, NW 9th floor Washington, DC 20005 http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/ Youth Law Center Children's Legal Protection Center 1010 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Suite 310 Washington, DC 20005-4902 http://www.youthlawcenter.com The Sentencing Project, Inc. 514 - 10th Street NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20004 http://www.sentencingproject.org