Florida’s lawmakers are currently considering two pieces of legislation – Senate Bill 936 and House Bill 509 – which would create guidelines to limit adult prosecution of children and keep more kids in the juvenile justice system.

In Florida, there is no minimum age for transferring a child to adult court. Children as young as 12 years old have been tried as adults. The crimes do not have to be violent; in fact, most children tried in adult court are there for non-violent offenses. Thanks to Florida’s direct-file statute, prosecutors have complete control over which children stay in juvenile court and which are transferred to the adult system.

Once transferred to adult court, children face harsh consequences. The adult system is ill-suited to serve young people. Science shows, as the Supreme Court has articulated time and time again, that kids are different. Young people’s brains, as well as their decision-making capabilities, are still developing. Yet in the adult system, youth are unlikely to receive educational opportunities to reach their full potential.

Charging children as adults is bad policy. Studies demonstrate that children who are in the adult system reoffend more quickly and go on to commit more serious crimes. In contrast, most youth in the juvenile justice system will never offend again. By sending children to the adult system, Floridians are actually creating more crime.

This may seem counterintuitive at first glance – after all, shouldn’t harsher penalties in the adult system deter children from committing crime?

In reality, juveniles who receive long prison sentences when tried as adults are not “scared straight,” they’re scared to death. Children in the adult system are at vastly higher risk of violence, sexual abuse and suicide than those in the juvenile system. Those who survive often become hardened criminals more likely to reoffend.

The bills under consideration would reduce adult prosecution of children by prohibiting children younger than 14 from being prosecuted as adults, eliminating direct file of 14- and 15-year-olds, and limiting the circumstances in which 16- and 17-year-olds can be prosecuted as adults. Judicial oversight is an important component of both bills.

Children who commit crimes should be held accountable, but the best way to do it – for them and for society – is to allow them to remain in the juvenile system. On January 22, Florida’s Senate Committee for criminal justice will consider SB 936. Legislators should seize the opportunity to reform direct file and lay the groundwork for a better juvenile justice policy.

 

Featured Publications