Waiver of Juveniles into the Adult Court System

Randall G. Shelden

One of the fastest-growing changes within the juvenile justice system is known as waiver or certification . If a juvenile court believes that an offender is too “dangerous” or is “not amenable to treatment,” the court will transfer the jurisdiction of (i.e., “waive”) the youth to the adult system by, legally speaking, making the youth an adult. Generally, juvenile courts either lower the age of jurisdiction (known as judicial waiver ) or exclude certain offenses (known as legislative waiver ); in most jurisdictions, homicide is such an offense. Currently, every U.S. state has some provisions for transferring juvenile offenders to adult courts. In some states, only age-only provisions are used. Growing numbers of states are making the age lower and lower. Although the minimum age for waiver of a juvenile into adult court varies across states, three states—Indiana, South Dakota, and Vermont—allow the certification of a juvenile as young as ...

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