NCJ Number
216771
Journal
The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology Volume: 96 Issue: 4 Dated: Summer 2006 Pages: 1451-1478
Date Published
2006
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This study examined the general deterrent effects of direct file transfer laws for juvenile offenders in 14 States.
Abstract
The results indicated that direct file laws, which streamline the process of removing juvenile offenders from juvenile court jurisdiction to allow for prosecution in adult criminal court, had little significant effect on violent juvenile crime rates. The analysis revealed that direct file laws had a significant deterrent effect on violent juvenile crime in only one State: Michigan. All the remaining 13 States experienced either no effect of direct file laws on juvenile crime or actually experienced an increase in their arrest rate for violent juvenile crime. None of the 14 States observed a drop in their juvenile homicide/manslaughter rate following implementation of their direct file waiver law. The authors offer several explanations for why direct file laws did not provide a general deterrent effect, including arguments from developmental psychologists who highlight the different perceptions of risk held by juveniles in comparison to adults. Data under examination included monthly arrest data for juvenile violent crime for the years 1975 through 1993 and for the years 1994 through 2002 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports. Monthly arrest rates in the 14 States were analyzed using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) techniques. States under analysis were Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming. Tables, footnotes, appendixes