- “Automatic charging ‘goes against adolescent brain development research.'” – The Sentencing Project report
WASHINGTON — The automatic charging of youth in adult courts has had a detrimental impact on youth well-being and community safety, according to a new report published by the nonprofit organization The Sentencing Project.
The report, authored by Olivia Naugle, describes automatic charging, or “auto-charging,” as “one of several pathways that send people under 18 years old into the adult criminal legal system.” Each state has different parameters regarding age and severity of offense that can lead to automatic charging. The report states the process is referred to as “automatic” because “there is essentially no review of the case before it starts in adult criminal court.”
The report stresses the damage caused by automatic charging. “Sending youth to the adult criminal justice system, for any offense, harms public safety because youth charged in adult court are more likely to commit future offenses, and more likely to commit the most violent offenses, than similarly situated peers retained in the juvenile courts.”
A further concern of automatic charging is its racial disparity. The report states that “between 2009 and 2024, 80% of Maryland youth charged as adults were Black (with no data on the proportion that is Latino). In 2017, 84% of Alabama youth charged as adults were Black (with no data on the proportion that is Latino). In Nebraska, 36% and 20% of youth transferred to adult courts on felonies were Black or Latino, respectively.”
The report also raises concerns about the effects of incarceration on the psychological development of the nation’s youth. “The vast majority of youth age out of delinquency. In fact, most youth (63%) who enter the justice system for delinquency never return to court on delinquency charges.”
Automatic charging “goes against adolescent brain development research.” It can be especially damaging because “youth incarcerated in adult jails and prisons do not have access to the rehabilitative programs, mental health treatment, and other developmentally appropriate services that are available in the youth justice system.”
The report indicates that youth subjected to automatic charging face the risk of receiving much harsher sentences, including life without parole. The report states, “Many people in prison are serving lengthy sentences for crimes committed before turning 18, an outcome that is only possible when youth are charged as if they were adults. There are 32,359 people (in 45 states where data were available) in adult prisons for crimes committed as youth, amounting to 3.1% of the prison population in those states. Eight in 10 are youth of color.”
The report describes the history of youth being charged as adults as a practice that was “always allowed” in the United States. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, “charging youth as adults took on a new scale.”
The report attributes the expansion of automatic charging during that period to the “‘superpredator myth,’ which predicted an increase in youth committing violent crime.” The report notes that the myth was debunked, stating that “youth offending was on the decline even as the super-predator myth garnered media attention.” Despite this, “the policy implications and subsequent harm are still in place today.”
The report concludes by stating, “We know that charging youth as adults harms youth wellbeing and community safety.” It declares automatic charging to be “a particularly inefficient way to decide about transfers because it only considers the initial charge.”
In contrast, judges in juvenile court “are trained to consider factors such as childhood trauma and adolescent brain development when making decisions regarding youth.” Their discretion, the report says, “should be used based on the circumstances of the case, rather than simply basing the decision solely on the immediate offense.”
Four recommendations are included in the report: “1. End automatic charging and begin all cases involving youth under 18 in juvenile court. 2. Ensure that decisions to send youth to adult court are always reviewed by a judge, ideally in juvenile court. 3. Limit pathways for youth to enter the adult criminal legal system. 4. Remove all youth from adult prisons and jails.”
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