CJJ opposes trying and sentencing youth in adult criminal court, except in the rare case of a chronic and violent offender, and then only at the discretion of, and following an assessment by, a juvenile court judge. Under no circumstance does CJJ support sending a child younger than age 15 into the adult criminal justice system. CJJ also opposes giving prosecutors the authority to transfer youth to adult court.
It is harmful to community safety, as well as young offenders themselves, to sentence youth to adult jurisdiction. In adult prisons, youth under age 18 are eight times more likely to commit suicide, five times more likely to be sexually assaulted, and, upon release, much more likely to re-offend than youth handled in the juvenile justice system.
[1] See all positions.
[1]: http://juvjustice.org/positions.html