Why ‘Adult Time for Adult Crime’ Doesn’t Work

Written by Matt Kelley, the following originally appeared on Change.org’s Criminal Justice Blog (10/14/10).

Trying children in adult courts and locking them in adult prisons and jails is cruel and counterproductive, and a new report from Baltimore shows us just how badly “adult time for adult crime” policies have failed.

Released last week by a coalition called the Just Kids Partnership, the report details the cases of 135 juveniles charged as adults in Baltimore — and the results speak volumes. Most revealing is the fact that only 10 percent of juveniles charged as adults actually ended up sentenced to serve time in adult prison. Most cases were either dismissed outright or transferred back to juvenile court. And while this pointless charade played out, the kids involved spent an average of five months in adult jails, without the education and social services they need.

This mess is a result of laws passed during the “tough on crime” heyday of the 1980s and 1990s, which left Maryland with laws sending youths charged with any of 33 offenses directly to adult court.

Criminal justice and psychology researchers have found that giving kids access to services after their youthful indiscretions helps to prevent crime later in life. But common sense could have told us that. Instead of following this logic, our elected representatives have continued passing laws that seemed stricter on paper (and during election season), and we’ve missed countless opportunities to help troubled kids turn their lives around.

This report from Baltimore should provide plenty of evidence for state and city leaders to put a hold on plans to build a new $100-million jail in the city for young people charged as adults. While the goal of separating children from adults is admirable, it’s a wrongheaded half-measure with far too high a price tag. Charging children as adults doesn’t work. It doesn’t stick, and the system wastes time and money spinning its wheels while these kids are passed between courts. Rather than spending $100 million on a new jail, we could invest in education, treatment and other social services that will prevent more crime and reduce our addiction to incarceration.