The New Jersey juvenile justice system promotes rehabilitation efforts and accountability over punishment. Youthful offenders may need to undergo counseling or substance abuse education. The charges they face generally carry lesser consequences and similar accusations brought against adult defendants.
Young adults who learn from their mistakes can potentially expunge their juvenile records, which allows them to enjoy the same opportunities as adults without criminal convictions. Occasionally, state prosecutors decide that teenage defendants should face charges as adults, rather than as juvenile defendants.
What circumstances may warrant the prosecution of a teenager as an adult in New Jersey?
Serious crimes can lead to adult prosecution
When a minor commits a crime, the matter goes before the juvenile courts in most cases. However, state prosecutors can ask the courts to waive a juvenile case into the adult criminal courts. Doing so is often the result of a young adult committing a serious offense, such as homicide or sexual assault.
Prosecutors may also seek to waive a matter to the adult courts in scenarios where a young defendant has a track record of violent or illegal conduct. Adult charges generally carry more serious criminal penalties and result in a permanent criminal record even after the completion of the sentence imposed by the courts. The adult expungement process is more restrictive and often takes longer than expunging a juvenile record.
Parents and guardians concerned about the future of a juvenile defendant in New Jersey may need support when communicating with prosecutors and preparing to respond to charges, and that’s okay. Learning more about when the state can request a juvenile waiver and charge a teenager as an adult may help guide the response to pending charges against teenagers.