Ethical considerations in sentencing JOHs to adult prison
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2023
Abstract
During the height of the “get-tough” movement, approximately 250,000 youths were transferred to criminal court annually to be prosecuted, sentenced, and possibly incarcerated as adults. While these trends have recently declined somewhat, an alarming number of youthful offenders are still waived to adult court yearly though a variety of transfer mechanisms, both discretionary and non-discretionary. Juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) are especially likely to experience the waiver process. However, controversy rages over whether juveniles truly have the psychological, emotional, and developmental maturity to be found competent to stand trial as adults, regardless of offense severity. Moreover, waiver entails the serious likelihood those youthful offenders will face harsh punishments, exposure to more violence, and a lack of essential developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed, therapeutic programming in adult correctional institutions. This chapter first reviews various discretionary, presumptive, mandatory, and automatic mechanisms by which juveniles are transferred to criminal court. Next, empirical research surrounding developmental maturity and adjudicative competency issues is highlighted. Then, the negative effects of imposing adult sanctions on developing JHOs are investigated. Lastly, the issues surrounding juvenile waiver practices and the sentencing of juveniles to adult prison, especially life without the possibility of parole, are evaluated through an ethical and justice policy lens.
Recommended Citation
Sellers, B. G. (2023). Ethical considerations in sentencing JOHs to adult prison. In K. M. Heide (Ed.), The Routledge international handbook of juvenile homicide (pp. 610–623). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003242833-47
Comments
B. G. Sellers is a faculty member in EMU's Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology.