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Emma Hutchins
Junior Research Paper
Mrs. Myslinski
4 April 2016
Join the Crowd North Carolina
Allyson had just turned sixteen. She had always been a good child and a good student.
She lived in Raleigh, NC in a middle class neighborhood. Allyson was a sweet girl who was
always willing to help others. She was a sophomore in high school and had never had a
boyfriend. She met Jessie through Facebook. Although they went to the same school, she had
never seen him before. They began to communicate over social media and started meeting up at
school. Jessie was 18 and a senior. He paid a lot of attention to Allyson by bringing her gifts and
spending time with her. Jessie started picking up Allyson to take her out to eat. Allyson began to
notice things about Jessie that scared her a little bit. He would become angry if she spoke to
other boys. He always seemed to know where she was, and if he did not he wanted to know
where she was. One day, he even pushed her when he was upset with her. Afterwards he was
very sweet and brought her flowers. He said it would never happen again.
Jessie was not a good student. He was barley passing in school. He began smoking pot
when he was fourteen, and he had started using pills by the time he was sixteen. He never told
Allyson any of this. One afternoon Jessie came by Allysons house and told her she needed to
drive. Allyson did not object; she just drove. Jessie told her he wanted to stop at the gas station
for a drink. Allyson pulled in the parking, lot and he said he would be right out. The next thing
Allyson knew, Jessie jumped into the car and told her to drive. When she asked what was wrong,

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he said he had just grabbed the money from the register and the police were on the way. Allyson
did not know what to do. She did not want Jessie to get in trouble. She drove home, and
eventually the police came. Jessie and Allyson were both arrested and charged with felony
common law robbery and felony larceny. Because juvenile court jurisdiction ends when a person
turns sixteen in North Carolina, Allyson was charged as an adult.
Now Allyson is in the adult criminal system. She will have to post a bond to get out of
jail. She will be given a first appearance in front of a judge and then set for hearing. Depending
on her parents financial situation, she will either have to hire a lawyer or the Court will appoint a
lawyer. From there it is up to the district attorney to decide how to proceed. The best possible
outcome for Allyson would be a deferred prosecution which would be unlikely. In addition,
Allyson will miss a lot of school and may even end up in prison. If she were in another state, she
would be dealt with in the juvenile system which means evaluations, treatments, and other types
of counseling and education programs. North Carolina should raise the age from 16 to 18 for
adult criminal prosecution. The harsh consequences have led numerous different groups to
advocate for a raise in the age.
North Carolinas current system was developed over the long history of the courts.
Looking at the history of North Carolinas Juvenile Justice System, The North Carolina
Constitution of 1868 was the first document to differentiate between adults and children in the
states courts and institutions. It allowed for the establishment of Houses of Refuge for
juveniles, the original model for todays training schools, and called for the appointment of a
Board of Public Cahrities", which would provide for the poor, the unfortunate and [the]
orphan. Children were put into three categories. First, those under 7 were not prosecuted for a

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crime because they were not able to understand what they had done was a crime or the possible
consequences. Second children from 7 to 14 were presumed to be incapable of discerning
between good and evil. That presumption could be overcome; if so the child would be
prosecuted as an adult. The third group was composed of children over 14, who were prosecuted
as adults. After 1919 Juvenile Courts were set up. The original law called for the Court to cover
children up until 18, but when it was passed it only covered those up to 16. There is no
legislative history giving any reason as to why this change was made (Brickhead). From there it
seems that North Carolina has maintained the original law for a hundred years. Progress towards
reform has been extremely slow.
Since the Juvenile Court was setup, scholars have been studying the effectiveness of how
the state deals with children and whether the age should be changed. There are supporters on
both side of the issue. Supporters of raising the age argue that, Research into brain
development underscores that adolescents are in fact children and that the human brain is not
fully formed until the age of 25 (Get"). Children do not have the same ability to understand
the consequences of their actions. They are much more impulsive than adults, whose brains are
fully formed. Due to their developmental stage, teenagers are more likely to be short-sighted,
have poor impulse control, be driven by emotions and be susceptible to peer pressure. These
factors all contribute to the poor decision-making that may lead to adolescents becoming
involved in the justice system. The issue of brain development works the other way as well.
During adolescence, personality traits and behaviors are developing and being reinforced by
interactions with others; this provides an opportunity for adults, institutions and others who
interact with youth to more effectively teach adolescents appropriate adult behavior (Putting).

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In North Carolina the Juvenile Justice System is based on appropriate treatment with different
types of programs. North Carolinas juvenile justice system is ideally suited to process cases
involving sixteen- and seventeen-year-old offenders, as it already provides developmentally
appropriate screening, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation for juveniles. Along with these
screenings and programs, North Carolina also has jurisdiction over the childs parent or guardian
which allows the Court to enforce its orders as to the childs parents (Brickhead). By having this
authority, the Court can fine or jail a parent if he or she is not in compliance with the Courts
orders.
Adult criminal convictions have significant long lasting consequences for children. The
most significant is the employment barrier. Employers in North Carolina and most states can
deny employment to a convicted felon. This means that a 16 or 17-year-old who commits a
crime that is considered a felony can be barred from employment for a lifetime. Employers in
most states can deny positions toor even fireanyone with a criminal record, regardless of the
individuals history, the circumstances, or the relationship between the job or the license sought
and the applicants criminal record. Employers in most states can also deny jobs to people who
were arrested for, but never convicted of, a crime. A childs ability to obtain a higher education
can also be impacted. Increasingly, colleges and universities are using criminal history
background checks in the admissions process and then developing exclusionary policies to deny
admission to certain categories of applicants (Brickhead). Without the ability to work or seek
further education, a child has few options other than crime.
The practice of charging 16 and 17-year-old children as adults may increase recidivism of
this population. These children are unlikely to finish high school or college. Treating children

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as adults in the criminal justice system is short-sighted and ineffective; youth incarcerated in
adult facilities are more likely to suffer emotional and physical abuse and to recidivate realities
that are at odds with the goal of rehabilitating youth and protecting public safety (Get). If a
child is sent to an adult prison he or she is exposed to adult criminals who have much more
experience in the criminal world. Children are no longer children in this situation. They carry
the bad things they learn in prison into the community. Automatically transferring juveniles to
the adult criminal system neither protects the public nor deters youth from committing further
crimes. The North Carolina Sentencing Commission and the Department of Corrections found
that state data indicate that youth who serve adult time are more than twice as likely to be
reconvicted of crimes as youth who receive juvenile services. In addition, juveniles serving time
in adult prison had the highest rate of rearrest and reconviction of all youthful
offenders (Putting). It seems that putting 16 and 17-year-olds in the adult system is
completely contrary to solving the problem of youth crime.
Some may wonder why North Carolina has not raised the age of adult prosecution, with
all of the supporting research. In 1998, a governors commission studied the issue and did not
recommend the age be changed. One reason was that public opinion did not support a change.
Without a vocal constituency clamoring for a comprehensive, well-funded system, lawmakers
have consistently deemed the issue not politically viable, resulting in chronic under-funding from
the state (Brickhead). One of the most significant arguments against raising the age is the
increase in cost to deal with 17 and 18-year-olds in the juvenile system. It cost about $128.00 per
day to house a juvenile in a juvenile facility as opposed to about $72.00 a day to house an adult
in prison (Costs). By increasing the age, those 16 and 17 year olds that would be sent to prison

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now would be put into the juvenile system at a much higher per day cost. Also juvenile court
counselors, which are equivalent to adult probation officers, supervise significantly fewer
offenders at a high rate per offender. Juvenile Court Counselor Hill said, Many more would
have to be hired to deal with the increased case load.
Another strong objection to raising the age comes from the law enforcement community.
The principal basis of their objections are that coddling juvenile offenders will increase,
rather than decrease, crime; that offenses by juveniles are as much against society as similar
crimes by adults; and that the cost of investigating a crime is the same whether the suspect is a
juvenile or an assault (Brickhead). The law enforcement community has a point in this respect.
There are juveniles that commit very serious and violent crimes. Some prosecutors also are
opposed to raising the age. The elected district attorney for Rutherford County is not in favor of
the change. Im opposed to raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include 16 and 17-yearolds for several reasons, said Bell. First, the estimated cost of this change is $55 million a year,
which our court system simply cannot afford. Second, because of the limited dispositions
available under the juvenile code in most cases, the juvenile system simply does not serve as an
effective deterrent, and given a lack of immediate consequences for failing to abide by the
decisions and orders in juvenile court, there is very little to deter continued
misbehavior (Conley). Another argument against the increase comes from those representing
crime victims. In recent years, however, some opponents to raising the age have suggested that
victims would be dissatisfied with the more rehabilitative and less punitive approach of the
juvenile court system, and that they would not be made whole through restitution or other
remedies that are more readily obtained from adult, rather than juvenile, offenders (Brickhead).

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The argument that raising the age is too expensive does not take into account the other
costs associated with 16 and 17-year-olds have adult criminal convictions. The reality is that
raising the age will save the state money in the long-term, Raise the Age will save North
Carolina taxpayers millions. It will mean fewer repeat offenders and fewer people in our jails,
which saves money offsetting the modest startup costs. Raising the Age will generate $52.3
million in benefits every year from the combined perspectives of taxpayers, youth and victims.
Over time, Raise the Age will generate $97.9 million in long term benefits as a result of 16 and
17-year-olds not having an adult record (Raise). This is backed up with statistics that show
that the juvenile court has been successful with 12 to 15-year-old offenders. In North Carolina,
focusing on the appropriate treatment of youths has led to a 12 year low in the offense rate
among children aged 15 and younger. All signs point to a similar beneficial outcome with 16 and
17 year olds (Raise). It seems that historically the General Assembly has not been willing to
spend money up front for the possibility, all be it a strong one, that they will save money in the
future.
Looking back over the history of the juvenile court system it seems North Carolina has
followed a pattern. Multiple groups advocate for raising the age. They raise the issues including
the long term effects of adult criminal convictions on children and research into brain
development. Some legislators become interested in the issues. Those opposed to raising the
age bring up the same self-perpetuating arguments that the state cannot afford the change and
then the movement is shut down. It isnt clear what it will take to convince the North Carolina
General Assembly to raise the age. Continued advocacy and publicity along with a willingness
to compromise seems to be the only path to change. A large part of the answer, confirmed by

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empirical studies on recidivism rates among other indicators, lies in the long-term cost savings
for North Carolina in an era of budget shortfalls, prison overcrowding, and failed criminal justice
policies. The rest of the answer is perhaps best expressed by Raise The Age advocates in
Connecticut who have asserted that, [t]he time has come for [the state] to recognize in law what
it knows to be morally right (Brickhead). There is no easy answer to this complicated problem,
but continuing to do nothing is not an option any longer.

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Works Cited
Brickhead, Tamar R. "North Carolina, Juvenile Court Jurisdicton, and the Resistance to Reform."
North Carolina Law Review 86 (2008): 1443-500. Amazon Aws. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
Conley, Mike. "Juvenile Justice Changes Proposed." NC Child. NC Child, n.d. Web. 28
Mar. 2016.
"Costs of Corrections." NC Crime Control. North Carolina Department of Public Safety, 21 Jan.
2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
"Get the Facts." Raise the Age NY. Raise the Age NY, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
"Juvenile Violence and Delinquency Prevention." NCDPS. North Carolina Department of Public
Safety, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
"Putting the Juvenile Back in Juvenile Justice." NC Child. NC Child, 2007. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
"Raise the Age Advocacy Guide." NC Child. NC Child, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.