One of the main questions yet to be answer thus far is: what are other states and countries doing in their treatment of juveniles, and is it as easy for them to be transferred into criminal court. There are three options among many more that could be more effective then the current direct file policy in Colorado. These options include raising the age of criminal responsibility, reverse waiver and the Judaical waiver.
There is another option besides the above mentioned that would eliminate this problem all together but it would not be accepted. This would be to eliminate transferring juveniles into the adult court system all together. But for those juveniles who have outgrown the juvenile system transferring seams like the logical alternative. Also for those who have committed serious crimes at the age of seventeen and will turn eighteen within six months, might as well be transferred. Also if juveniles could not be tried as adults, they would not take the justice system or crime as seriously as they should.
Why not raise the age of criminal responsibility? In Japan the age of criminal responsibility is twenty, and juveniles are tried in family courts. By increasing the age at which juveniles can take criminal responsibility fewer juveniles would be sentenced to harsher punishments. The united states is pretty unique in its treatment of juveniles. Raising the age juveniles at which juveniles can take criminal responsibility and tried in the adult system would give them more chances to avoid life in prison, and to take advantage of the chances juveniles are given; like rehabilitation and the opportunity to start over.
A policy in Nebraska and other states is the Reverse Waiver. The reverse waiver allows juveniles to petition if they think they were unjustly transferred to the adult court system. Once they are directly filed or transferred into the adult system in Colorado they can not be moved back into the juvenile system. The reverse waiver is a second chance for those juveniles who believe there is no reason for them to be in criminal court. By filing a petition after they are transferred, it gives them the chance to have a transfer hearing. In this hearing it is discussed and argued if the the juvenile should have been transferred or not. The judge is the one who makes the finial decition. If the judge decides the juvenile has no reason to be in the criminal court the juvenile is then transferred back into the juvenile court. Even though the reverse waiver would benefit the juveniles, the disadvantage is that it takes time to both petition and receive a transfer hearing.
Judicial waiver is a process like direct filing that allows juveniles to be transferred in to the criminal court system, but unlike the direct file the Judaical waiver is a harder process. This is because in the Judaical waiver their must be a transfer hearing for every juvenile that is moved into the adult court system. At the transfer hearing the judge listens to both sides and also looks at the seriousness of the crime, the juveniles age, and criminal background as well as his/her mental state. After the judge has examined all of these aspects they then decides if the juvenile should be transferred.This method is a good alternative because cases are looked case by case instead of being directly filed. Every person is unique as well as the reason for committing the crime committed, by not looking at the juveniles case by case, it allows children to be tried as adults when instead they should be in juvenile court.
These three options or four, reverse waiver, raising the age of criminal responsibility and judicial waiver just eliminating transferring as a whole are all good alternatives to direct filing.
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