Opinion ID: 2630295
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: CONSTITUTIONALITY OF K.S.A. 38-1636(a)(2)

Text: Finally, Tyler argues that the presumption under K.S.A. 38-1636(a)(2) that he is an adult because of the severity of his alleged offense violates his due process rights. Although he acknowledges that we rejected this argument in State v. Coleman, 271 Kan. 733, 734-38, 26 P.3d 613 (2001), he asserts the argument here to preserve it for any subsequent federal appeal. As in Coleman, Tyler relies on In re J.L., 20 Kan.App.2d 665, 891 P.2d 1125, rev. denied 257 Kan. 1092 (1995). That case found the presumption of parental unfitness in the termination of parental rights statutes violated the parent's procedural due process rights. 20 Kan.App.2d at 676, 891 P.2d 1125. The glaring fallacy in Tyler's reliance on In re J.L. is that a parent has a fundamental liberty interest in the custody and control of his or her children which is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. A juvenile has no constitutional right to be adjudicated under the Juvenile Justice Code. As Tyler conceded at oral argument, a statute which provided that any person, regardless of age, will be prosecuted for murder under the adult criminal statutes would be constitutionally permissible. Obviously, then, the rebuttable presumption of adult prosecution under K.S.A. 38-1636(a)(2) is likewise not constitutionally infirm. Affirmed.