The trend began in the 1990s, when virtually every state expanded the rules under which juvenile offenders could be charged as adults.
"The juvenile justice system has been 'reinvented' in the image of the adult criminal justice system," Robert Schwartz, co-founder of the Juvenile Law Center, and Thomas Grisso, a clinical psychologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, wrote in an executive summary for their book, "Youth on Trial." "In the words of one 'get-tough' advocate, juvenile offenders 'are criminals who happen to be young, not children who happen to be criminal."
In May, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that will soften sentences against some juveniles. The nation's highest court ruled that juvenile offenders
"The juvenile justice system has been 'reinvented' in the image of the adult criminal justice system," Robert Schwartz, co-founder of the Juvenile Law Center, and Thomas Grisso, a clinical psychologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, wrote in an executive summary for their book, "Youth on Trial." "In the words of one 'get-tough' advocate, juvenile offenders 'are criminals who happen to be young, not children who happen to be criminal."
In May, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that will soften sentences against some juveniles. The nation's highest court ruled that juvenile offenders