Fitness Hearing

An adjudicatory hearing is the juvenile court equivalent of a criminal trial. When a juvenile (typically a person younger than 18, though some people under 18 can be charged as adults) is accused of a crime, the juvenile is not subject to the same criminal justice system that an adult would.

Fourteen- and 15-year-olds in California cannot be prosecuted in adult court, where they would face sentences of up to life in prison, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday, upholding a 2019 state law that was challenged by prosecutors. The law requires youths younger than 16 to be tried in juvenile court.

A fitness hearing is like a short trial where a judge decides whether or not an accused is unfit to stand trial. This occurs after the accused has been assessed by a psychiatrist, and has returned to court.At a fitness hearing, witnesses are called to give evidence by testifying in court.

Offenders under 21 would be automatically tried as juveniles under new California bill. California arrested 17,200 minors under the age of 17 for felonies in 2018. The same year, about 14,400 people ages 18 and 19 were arrested on felony charges.

In a key policy shift that could spur other states to change their sentencing practices, California enacted SB 9 on September 30, 2012. The new law gives juvenile offenders sentenced to life without the possibility of parole the opportunity to seek a hearing to reduce their sentences to 25 years to life.

In Gault, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the Constitution requires that youth charged with delinquency in juvenile court have many of the same due process rights guaranteed to adults accused of crimes, including the right to an attorney and the right to confront witnesses against them.

What Is an Adjudication? An adjudication is a legal ruling or judgment, usually final, but can also refer to the process of settling a legal case or claim through the court or justice system, such as a decree in the bankruptcy process between the defendant and the creditors.

The type of crime the minor is accused of. The child's criminal history. Rehabilitation history of the child. Potential for the child to learn to improve. The specifics of the current case, and. The severity of the charges against the minor.

In 2020, Vermont became the first state in the nation to expand juvenile court jurisdiction to 18. Three states-- Georgia, Texas and Wisconsin--now draw the juvenile/adult line at age 16.