WHAT if last month's schoolyard ambush that left five people dead in Jonesboro, Ark., had instead played out in Maryland? How would Maryland's justice system respond to such a tragedy?
Arkansas allows adult trials for people only as young as 14. The U.S. Justice Department is trying to find a way to try the 11- and 13-year-old Jonesboro boys charged with the crimes as adults.
Although this case would be problematic for any state's criminal justice system, Maryland has an effective procedure of checks and balances for determining of whether to treat young offenders of such heinous crimes as juveniles or adults.
Regardless of the seriousness or notoriety of a crime alleged to have been committed by a juvenile, a Maryland judge can choose to try a case in juvenile or in adult criminal court. That choice would be made based upon the facts and circumstances of each case.
Assuming that the exact same set of events occurred in Maryland and the perpetrators are charged with first-degree or capital murder, a juvenile aged 14 or older would be charged as an adult in criminal court. Younger children would be charged as juveniles in juvenile court. If neither the prosecutor nor the defense attorney files a request to waive or transfer the case, the matter would be tried in the court where it was charged. If a request is made to transfer or waive, a judge would determine, after a hearing, if the child's case should remain or be moved to a different court.
Five key reasons
A Maryland judge must consider five factors before deciding to waive or transfer the case: the child's age, mental and physical condition, amenability to a treatment program or facility for juvenile delinquents, the nature of the offense and, finally, public safety.
PTC Judges who sit in juvenile courts in Maryland possess the requisite qualifications of other trial juges, but generally they also have training, experience and an interest in children. They are, most importantly, experienced in child development and know what specific juvenile treatment programs and facilities are effective. They know, as best as one may predict, whether a juvenile is amenable to treatment in existing programs or facilities and whether that same child is a threat to public safety.
