Waiver and Transfer Provisions Of the Juvenile Court Statues

Waiver and Transfer Provisions Of the Juvenile Court Statues
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Introduction
The criminal justice system has the main goal of reducing crime in the society. Before the introduction of the juvenile court system, juvenile offenders were treated in the Adversarial Criminal Justice System, in the same manner as adults (Brink, 2004). These influenced legislators in many countries to think of alternative procedures that could be used in dealing with youthful offenders instead of subjecting them to the harsh treatment in the criminal justice system. Consequently, this led to the establishment of juvenile courts that focused more on rehabilitation rather than punishment (sellers & Arrigo, 2009). Court proceedings were made more informal, and youthful offenders were since distanced from the Adversarial justice system. Various states developed Juvenile court systems across the U.S where offenders below the age of 18 were tried for their offences (Steward-Lindsey, 2006).
The American judicial system has undergone changes in the recent years particularly the juvenile system. These has been as a result of complains from the public for the states to be tough on crime. Various states have advanced different approaches that advocate for juvenile waiver and transfer (Steiner & Wright, 2006). Juvenile transfer waiver laws are statutes allowing young offenders to be transferred from juvenile courts to criminal courts. This means that, they are prosecuted as if they are adult with the range of penalties being great.
Overtime different states have adjusted their weaver laws. The following are the classification of the various weaver laws that have been advanced (Schubert et all., 2010).Discretionary waiver is the provision that allows juvenile court judges to transfer a case involving a minor from a juvenile court to an adult criminal court. Mandatory waiver is when the state demands that juvenile offenders under the juvenile courts be trans...