Watch the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYxrxOBYM-4

Juvenile Prosecution as an Adult

The Juvenile Justice Initiative

In March 2000, California voters approved Proposition 21, "The Juvenile Justice Initiative," in response to highly publicized media reports to criminal street gang activity committed by teenagers. The law allows prosecutors to decide whether a minor at least 14 years old may be tried as an adult for certain defined crimes.

The law also specifies certain offenses for which minors will automatically be tried as an adult in criminal court, including murder if one or more special circumstances are alleged, and several sex offenses if the prosecutor alleges the minor personally committed the offense.

What Crimes Qualify for Prosecution of a Minor as an Adult? (W&I Code 707(b))

There are certain circumstances that call for minors be tried as adults.

California Welfare & Institutions Code Section 707(b), describes which crimes qualify for adult court when committed by a minor if the minor is found to be unfit for rehabilitation in juvenile court. "Section 707 (b)" offenses include:

• Murder;
• Arson causing great bodily injury or of an inhabited structure;
• Robbery;
• Rape with force, violence or threat of great bodily harm;
• Sodomy by force, violence or threat of great bodily harm;
• A lewd or lascivious act on a child under 14 with force, violence or threat of great bodily harm;
• Oral copulation by force, violence or threat of great bodily harm;
• Forcible sexual penetration;
• Kidnapping for ransom;
• Kidnapping for purposes of robbery;
• Kidnapping with bodily harm;
• Attempted murder;
• Assault with a firearm or destructive device;
• Assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury;
• Discharge of a firearm into an inhabited or occupied building;
• An offense described in Section 1203.09 of the Penal Code against a person who is over 60 or disabled;
• An offense described in Penal Code Section 12022.5: personal use of a firearm, or Penal Code Section 12022.53: California's "10-20-life" or "use a gun and you're done" law;
• A felony offense in which the minor personally used a weapon listed Penal Code Section 16590(a);
• A felony offense described in Penal Code Section 136.1: dissuading a witness, or Penal Code Section 137: bribing a witness;
• Manufacturing, compounding, or selling one-half ounce or more of a salt or solution of a controlled substance specified in Health & Safety Code 11055(e);
• A violent felony, which also would constitute a felony violation of Penal Code 186.22(b): criminal street gang sentencing enhancement;
• Escape, by the use of force or violence, from a county juvenile hall, home, ranch, camp, or forestry camp if great bodily injury is intentionally inflicted upon an employee of the juvenile facility;
• Torture;
• Aggravated mayhem;
• Carjacking;
• Kidnapping for purposes of sexual assault;
• Kidnapping during a carjacking;
• Drive-by-shooting described in Penal Code Section 26100;
• Exploding a destructive device with intent to commit murder; and
• Voluntary manslaughter.

What Crimes Automatically Trigger Prosecution of a Minor as an Adult? (W&I 602 (b))

California law pursuant to Welfare & Institutions Code Section 602 (b) requires that a minor at least 14 years of age or older must be tried as an adult for the following crimes:

• Murder with special circumstances if the prosecutor alleges that the minor personally killed the victim;
• Specified sex offenses if the prosecutor alleges that the minor personally committed the offense and other aggravating circumstances, including:
  • Rape with force, violence or threat of great bodily harm (PC 261 (a)(2));
  • Spousal rape with force, violence or threat of great bodily harm (PC 262 (a)(1));
  • Forcible sex acting in concert with another (PC 264.1));
  • Lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 involving force, violence or threat of great bodily injury (PC 288 (b));
  • Forcible sexual penetration (PC 289 (a));
  • Sodomy or oral copulation by force, violence or threat of great bodily injury (PC 286, 288a);
  • Lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 years (PC 288 (a)), unless the defendant qualifies for probation pursuant to Penal Code Section 1203.066.

Capital Punishment and Juveniles

• The youngest person to be executed in the 20th century was George Stinney, electrocuted in South Carolina at the age of fourteen on June 16, 1944. The youngest person ever to be sentenced to death in the United States was James Arcene, a Native American, for his role in a robbery and murder committed when he was ten years old. He was, however, 23-years-old when he was actually executed on June 18, 1885. The last execution of a juvenile may have been convicted murderer Leonard Shockley, who died in the Maryland gas chamber on April 10, 1959, at the age of 17. No one has been under the age of 19 at the time of execution since at least 1964.

After reviewing the above video and reading the above content, respond to the following prompt:

Let's talk about the juvenile justice system. First, do you think there should be two different systems for adults and juveniles? What about the hardened gang member who murders at the the age of 14 to join a gang? The criminal justice system has always struggled to differentiate the difference between adults and juveniles for punishment of a crime. In fact, juveniles are referred to as subjects and not suspects. Is the system working to protect us, the subjects, or both?