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These national statistics reflect the reality of trying, sentencing and incarcerating children in the adult criminal justice system.

National Statistics

• In 13 states, youth are automatically tried and sentenced as adults no matter how minor their offense; this kind of policy sends thousands of youth to adult court for non-violent offenses.
  
  
• According to a 2007 nationwide Zogby poll, 92% of Americans believe that instead of a blanket policy about trying youth in adult court, these decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis.
  
  
• 23 states have no minimum age for transferring a youth to adult court; in all other states, the minimum age is 10 to 15.
  
  
• Children of any age can be tried and sentenced as adults in almost two dozen states.
  
  
• Youth tried in adult criminal court are at greater risk of assault and death in adult jails and prisons with adult inmates, will receive an adult record, may never have access to student financial aid, and will lose their voting rights in many states.
  
  
• Every year, as many as 200,000 youth under 18 are prosecuted in adult criminal courts across the United States, despite overwhelming research demonstrating that these policies have failed.
  
  
• Justice Department research shows that youth incarcerated with adults are eight times more likely to commit suicide than in juvenile facilities.
  
  
• According to a 2007 nationwide Zogby poll, 89% of Americans believe that rehabilitative services and treatment for incarcerated youth can help prevent future crimes.
  
  
• Youth do not receive rehabilitation or treatment in the adult criminal justice system.
  
  
• The practice of trying youth as adults does not promote public safety or reduce crime. Youth are more likely to re-offend when they are tried and incarcerated in the adult justice system.
  
  
• National studies show that youth of color are treated more harshly than are white youth even when charged with similar offenses.
  
  
• New research on brain development shows that youth do not have all the same capacities as adults and should be treated differently.
  
  
• According to a 2007 nationwide Zogby poll, 95% of Americans believe that increasing education and job skills training for youth in the juvenile system will help reduce crime.
  
  
• Human Rights Watch reported in 2005 that an estimated 2,225 youth under 18 were serving life without parole.
  
  
• Despite the fact that juvenile crime is at a 30-year low and that youth crime constitutes only a small portion of a community’s public safety challenge, much of the public believes that young people are driving violent crime. 
  
  
• The overwhelming majority of children who enter the adult court are not there for serious, violent crimes.
  
  
• In Connecticut, 96% of the 16- and 17-year-olds arrested are arrested for non-violent offenses, but Connecticut law makes trying them as adults mandatory.
  
  
• On any given day, more than 7,000 children are in adult jails.
  
  
• The number of youth placed in adult jails has increased by 208% since 1990.
  
  
• The decision to send children to adult court is most likely not made by a juvenile court judge, who would be a neutral player in the best position to determine the merits of the child’s case.
  
  
• Youth often are not provided with adequate counsel, which denies them a constitutional right that otherwise could help them stay out of the adult system.
  
  
• Returning all children to the juvenile court jurisdiction will actually save money.