Kids You Throw Away: NJ Prosecution of Minors as Adults
What was at stake
Youth justice
What happened
Human Rights Watch documented cases of children in New Jersey — some as young as 13 or 14 — who were charged and prosecuted as adults under New Jersey's waiver statutes, resulting in their placement in adult jails and prisons. These youth faced the full weight of the adult criminal legal system, including adult sentencing ranges, housing alongside adult offenders, and lasting collateral consequences such as adult criminal records that affected their ability to access education, employment, and housing. The report profiled individual minors whose cases were transferred out of the juvenile system, detailing the trauma, abuse, and developmental harm they experienced in adult facilities.
What the court decided
See summary
Statutes and cases cited
- § N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:4A-26.1 (Waiver of jurisdiction — court-ordered waiver)
- § N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:4A-26 (Waiver of jurisdiction — prosecutorial waiver)
Categories
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