Juvenille Crimes

Juvenile law is handled much differently than adult criminal cases. Juveniles are offered many more diversion type programs. It takes an experienced Juvenile Defense Attorney to navigate this process. The biggest difference in this area is that Juveniles are not afforded the right to trial by jury.

Many of the offenses for which children and young adults under the age of 18 are charged are similar to adult crime, ranging in seriousness from a misdemeanor for public misbehavior to a felony for assault or attempted murder. Nearly a million juveniles a year are processed through the justice system, and admitted to public or private facilities after their convictions.

Most juvenile commitments to a juvenile correctional agency are for non-violent offenses; less than 30% of juvenile crime involves some sort of violence. And, according to the Pacific Center for Violence Prevention, most youth never return to court; that is, some 60% of juveniles who are referred to juvenile court for the first time never return on a new charge.

Unfortunately, when it comes to violent juvenile crime, quite often today's prosecutors attempt to try juveniles as adults, and all too often these youth receive adult punishment, with heavy sentences that include life imprisonment and the death penalty.