Kids as Kids: Challenging the Prosecution of Youth as Adults

Watch our webinar, Kids as Kids: Challenging the Prosecution of Youth as Adults. Our expert panelist discuss considerations for prosecutors in navigating decisions when youth are alleged to have committed serious crimes that are legally eligible for charging in the adult system. How should prosecutors approach these cases? How do youth in the adult system fare compared to youth who remain in the juvenile system? What should prosecutors know and consider when wrestling with decisions about where to charge youth who commit serious offenses? How should prosecutors consider particularly harsh sentences kids may face, including juvenile life sentences? Our discussion dives into adultification bias, legislative mandates for transitional age youth, and political pressure to pursue higher charges and longer sentences. Prosecutors learn about the many opportunities to offer rehabilitative and supportive interventions for highly receptive youth. Our webinar also explores questions of race and forms of bias that lead decisionmakers to view and treat Black and Brown young people as older than white young people. In addition to exploring questions about prosecuting kids as adults, this discussion also addresses challenges around the prosecution of transitional age youth: young adults who are, by law, only eligible to be tried as adults, but still display some of the unique features and needs of youth. Should transitional age youth be prosecuted differently than older adults—and how so? What are some of the unique challenges this population presents? Finally, this session will review recent legal changes that have been implemented and are being sought in many states around youth eligibility for adult sentences, including Raise the Age laws.