SOC 3523 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Selective Enforcement, Juvenile Court, Concurrent Jurisdiction
Document Summary
Prosecutorial discretion allows prosecutors to file certain juvenile cases in either juvenile or criminal court. The statute is also referred to as direct file or concurrent jurisdiction. These direct file provisions give both juvenile and adult criminal courts the power to hear cases that have been specified in the statute according to seriousness of offense and age of offender. Prosecutorial transfer, unlike judicial waiver, is not subject to judicial review and is not required to meet the due process requirements established in kent. Discretion is left up to the prosecutor whether to file the case in juvenile or criminal court. Critics of prosecutorial waiver have expressed concerns about giving exclusive authority to prosecutors and removing the judge form the transfer decision making process. 28 states have statutes that remove certain offenses or age and offense categories from juvenile court jurisdiction.
