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Interesting discussion of state juve bind-over procedures

By Douglas A. Berman

This local piece out of Denver, which is headlined "Children behind bars: Why Colorado is trigger-happy when it comes to sentencing kids like Alan Sudduth as adults," provides an interesting discussion of concepts with allowing state prosecutors to unilaterally decide when to try juvenile offenders as adults.  Here is an excerpt: The state's current direct-file system was a response to growing concerns about crime in the 1990s, says Kim Dvorchak, chair of the Colorado Juvenile Defender Division.  "What had been happening before was that when a child committed a serious crime, the DA would have to petition the juvenile court judge to waive jurisdiction and send the case to adult district court," she says.  "In the 1990s, crime went up and the judicial transfer process was perceived as cumbersome...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on April 22, 2010 (boomark / email).