U.S. Department of Justice Report Concludes that Transfer Laws Substantially Increase Recidivism

Campaign for Youth Justice Calls on Policy Makers to Reverse Punitive Laws in Light of Research

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), at the U.S. Department of Justice, just released a bulletin on transfer laws and concluded that they have little or no deterrent effect on juvenile crime. The report, Juvenile Transfer Laws: An Effective Deterrent to Delinquency?, also mentions that transfer laws substantially increase recidivism.

"Too many youth are being prosecuted as adults, with harmful results," said Liz Ryan, President and CEO of the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ). "We are calling on federal and state policy makers to reverse these punitive laws in light of this new research."

Key findings from OJJDP report:

-- Laws to make it easier to transfer youth to the adult criminal court system have little or no general deterrent effect, meaning they do not prevent youth from engaging in criminal behavior; -- Youth transferred to the adult system are more likely to be rearrested and to reoffend than youth who committed similar crimes, but were retained in the juvenile justice system; -- Higher recidivism rates are due to a number of factors including the youth's: -- Stigmatization/negative labeling effects of being labeled as a convicted felon; -- Sense of resentment and injustice about being tried as an adult; -- Learning of criminal mores and behavior while incarcerated with adults; -- Decreased access to rehabilitation and family support in the adult system; -- Decreased employment and community integration opportunities due to a felony conviction.

The full report can be accessed at http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/220595.pdf.

The Campaign for Youth Justice is a national organization dedicated to ending the practice of trying, sentencing and incarcerating youth under the age of 18 in the adult criminal justice system.

For more information, visit: www.campaignforyouthjustice.org.

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Liz Ryan

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Shay Bilchik

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Jeffrey Fagan

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