Laws Sending Kids to Adult Court at Issue in New Jersey High Court

Tuesday, the New Jersey Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of the state’s so-called juvenile waiver laws – a series of rulings that effectively allow county persecutors, and not state judges, to determine whether juvenile cases should be moved to adult courts. Currently, minors as young as 16 accused of a violent offense, such as homicide or aggravated assault, can be transferred to adult court under the state’s waiver laws, according to New Jersey’s The Record. More than 20 local and national organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the state’s Public Defender’s Office, have challenged New Jersey’s juvenile waiver laws, with many arguing that the regulations – which give judges limited ability to deny prosecutor requests for moving cases to adult courts – are unconstitutional. As the laws are written today, unless a defense attorney can demonstrate a prosecutor’s request that a juvenile be transferred to an adult court is a “patent abuse of discretion,” the presiding juvenile court judge is bound by law to grant the request, The Record reports. Tuesday’s hearing centers on a 2009 Middlesex County mugging involving several juveniles – a case in which the trial judge challenged the prosecuting attorney’s request to move the case to adult court.

Juvenile Life Without Parole At Issue in Case Before U.S. Supreme Court

In March, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases that could determine whether life sentences without parole for juvenile killers is unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. Attorneys for the two 14-year-olds involved in the cases will argue forensic evidence shows adolescent brains are not fully developed and that teenagers consequently take too many risks, according to The Los Angeles Times. "Adolescents, because of their immaturity, should not be deemed as culpable as adults," Temple University psychology professor Laurence Steinberg, who spearheaded the research, said. "But they also are not innocent children whose crimes should be excused." The high court abolished the death penalty for juveniles in 2005 and ruled in 2010 that life sentences without parole for juveniles were unconstitutional except in cases of homicide.

Georgia Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Appeal of 14-Year-Old Given Life Sentence

Georgia’s high court will hear oral arguments Monday in the appeal of  a 27-year-old Tift County man who was sentenced to life plus 20 years for rape when he was a 14-year-old boy. Jonas Brinkley  is appealing on the grounds that his sentence violated the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and that greater-than-life sentences should not be imposed on cases not involving homicide. According to prosecutors, Brinkley committed the rape while a 19-year-old friend, Lakendrick Carter, detained the victim's boyfriend in another room.  Brinkley and Carter also stole $180 from the couple before leaving their apartment. Carter was given 15 years in prison plus another five years of probation in exchange for his testimony against Brinkley. Five days after his sentencing, Brinkley, through his attorney, filed a motion for a new trial.

High Court Hears Arguments in Juvenile Miranda Case

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in the case of a seventh-grade special education student who was interviewed by police without being read his Miranda rights. The boy, known as J.D.B. in court documents, was pulled out of class and questioned by police about a series of break-ins in a closed-door meeting five years ago.  During the 45-minute meeting, J.D.B. implicated himself in the crimes.  His attorney argues that J.D.B.’s rights were violated, however police say the boy was not in official custody at the time of his confession. Upon returning home from school, J.D.B. was met by police with a search warrant.  Authorities recovered stolen items from his home. The High Court will issue its decision, which could have far-reaching implications for juvenile justice, later in the year.