Juvenile Crime

Full Video Transcript

First of all, under most state laws juvenile offenders don’t technically commit crimes, they commit delinquent acts. Which are acts basically be considered a crime if committed by an adult. The procedures are pretty similar to adult criminal investigations. However, the juvenile and his or her attorney appear before a juvenile judge who hears all the evidence and determines what actions should be taken. However, the goal in juvenile cases is generally to rehabilitate the child not punish him or her. For very serious or violent cases though, the prosecution may seek to try the juvenile as an adult. Since juvenile crime has been increasing over recent years, there’s a definite trend in trying more juveniles as adults for the acts the commit. And regardless of the criminal consequences, juveniles or even their parents may be held civilly liable to the acts to victims or other injured parties