D I R E C T F A I L I N G
The American Juvenile Criminal Justice System and the Practice of Direct Filing in Florida
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The United States leads the world with approximately 2 million people incarcerated, 2,500 of whom are minors in adult facilities, though, all 50 states have the resources for separate facilities. Despite recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that deemed both the death penalty and life-without-parole sentences against minors as unconstitutional, far too little has been done to address the inhumanity of our juvenile judicial system.
Photo Credit to https://jointcenter.org/floridas-direct-file-harms-youth/
W h a t is D i r e c t F i l i n g ?
W h a t is D i r e c t F i l i n g ?
Direct filing is defined as “the process through which prosecutors can charge juveniles as adults without any review from a judge.” Florida leads the nation in direct filing; according to the Human Rights Watch, approximately 2,420 juvenile defendants were direct filed in Florida per year from 2008 to 2013. The process of direct filing fails to take into account what we know about childhood development.
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"People under age 18 may not vote, serve in the military (without parental permission), serve on juries, make medical decisions, enter into contracts, marry (without parental permission), leave home (without parental permission), buy cigarettes, or drink alcohol."
"People under age 18 may not vote, serve in the military (without parental permission), serve on juries, make medical decisions, enter into contracts, marry (without parental permission), leave home (without parental permission), buy cigarettes, or drink alcohol."
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Civil Liberties Union
Why? Because the law has deemed minors mentally unfit to make such decisions. The law has also deemed that if a minor were to commit a crime, they may be charged as an adult.
W h a t a r e t h e R e s u l t s o f D i r e c t F i l i n g ?
W h a t a r e t h e R e s u l t s o f D i r e c t F i l i n g ?
Juvenile incarceration in adult prisons results in high likelihood of sexual assault in prison, suicide, and violent recidivism. The lives of most juvenile defendants are defined by hardship and privation; defendants are often victims themselves. United States law has struggled to define solutions that balance both the treatment and punishment of juvenile offenders.
Photo Credit to https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice
U n i t e d N a t i o n s o n J u v e n i l e I n c a r c e r a t i o n
U n i t e d N a t i o n s o n J u v e n i l e I n c a r c e r a t i o n
In a UN ruling for the protection of juveniles deprived of liberty, the very first fundamental perspective listed reads as follows, “The juvenile justice system should uphold the rights and safety and promote the physical and mental well-being of juveniles. Imprisonment should be used as a last resort.” Little of the United States’ juvenile justice system acts in accordance with the United Nations’ ruling. The incarceration of a minor in an adult facility violates not only his/her/their rights as an American citizen, but as a citizen of this world.
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P r o t e c t i o n o r P u n i s h m e n t ?
P r o t e c t i o n o r P u n i s h m e n t ?
If to err is human, then so it is to punish, forgive and redeem. Our system of laws may balance the competing interests of rehabilitation and punishment, but our morality may be a better guide for what is just. Even in the most extreme of cases involving child offenders and heinous crimes, the humanity of a child deserves our greatest duty of care applied only by a meaningful examination of childhood development. For what does it say about us if we fail to meet our duty of care to children, the disadvantaged, and the impoverished? If children are the future, then we should prepare for a world similar to a prison cell. There is a fundamental biological difference between adolescent and adult brains. It is time for the law to catch up with science. It is time for the law to catch up with morality. Only then, can we protect our children, in and out of prisons. Only then can we look towards a brighter future.
Photo Credits to https://www.smallasagiant.com/the-history-of-the-juvenile-justice-system and https://alleghenyanalytics.azurewebsites.net/2020/10/01/students-experiences-with-the-juvenile-and-criminal-justice-systems-in-and-out-of-school-a-longitudinal-analysis-of-pittsburgh-public-school-students-2010-2018/
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