State Responses to Serious and Violent Juvenile Crime

Prompted by public concern over the increased incidence of violent juvenile crime, State legislators across the Nation have responded with new and far-reaching proposals to alter the authority and practice of the juvenile and criminal justice systems. The magnitude of change is unprecedented in two decades, leading to a system of justice for juvenile offenders that appears quite different from the system of a few years ago. In striving for change, lawmakers and policymakers have developed quite diverse approaches to the problem but have, for the most part, concentrated on efforts that ease and promote more widespread use of adult criminal justice sanctions for a subset of juvenile offenders thought to have exceeded routine juvenile justice intervention.
State Responses to Serious and Violent Juvenile Crime is the first comprehensive analysis of the breadth and depth of this change. In reviewing State legislation and practice, the National Center for Juvenile Justice has both summarized the diversity of change and examined the common themes that are emerging across States. This document groups its findings into five important areas: jurisdictional authority, sentencing, correctional programming, information sharing, and victim involvement.