Transfer to Adult Criminal Court

872 Words2 Pages

There are times where a juvenile may be eligible for transfer to adult criminal court. There are certain criteria that must be met for this to happen, and there is a strong belief that juveniles who commit serious offenses would be more appropriately dealt with by criminal (or adult) courts (Elrod & Ryder, 2011). Juveniles are capable of committing the same serious offenses that adults do. Therefore, with the requirements of a transfer being met, there are times that juveniles should be placed in the adult criminal court system and tried through here, rather than the juvenile court system. The juvenile court system may not have the same consequences or sentencing guidelines as the adult criminal court; therefore, the proper punishment may not be served if a juvenile is not transferred to the adult criminal court system. Transfer occurs when jurisdictions over a juvenile case is turned over to a criminal court, waiver or transfer of jurisdiction is predicated on the assumption that some juveniles are not appropriate for processing in juvenile court and can be more effectively dealt with by criminal courts (Elrod & Ryder, 2011). The juvenile court system may not be able to protect the community from such youth’s demands, therefore, they are to be identified and transferred to the adult criminal justice system (Elrod & Ryder, 2011). If a juvenile carries a serious threat or harm to the surrounding community, and the adult criminal court system has the proper methods of handling the situation to prevent any further harm from being inflicted upon the community and its people, then it is appropriate for the juvenile to be transferred to the adult criminal court system to receive proper sentencing. Urbina and White (2009) state that ... ... middle of paper ... ...inal court system for the safety and protection of the juvenile, as well as the surrounding community. If a juvenile is likely to receive more help through the adult criminal court system, then this action should be proceeded with. If a juvenile is a very serious offender, or continues to repeat their criminal actions, then the juvenile court system is not having the proper affect on them; therefore they should be transferred to the adult criminal court system and processed with this way. Considering the life of a young adult will be altered, there are very serious circumstances to consider and is not to be taken lightly. The actions of the court may have long-standing, or harsh, affects on a juvenile. However, if this action of a transfer will be deemed the appropriate action to take for the juvenile and the community, then this is the action that must be preceded.

Open Document