should minors be charged as adults
In most states, a juvenile offender must be at least 16 to be eligible for waiver to adult court. But, in a number of states, minors as young as 13 could be subjected to a waiver petition. And a few states allow children of any age to be tried as adults for certain types of crimes, such as homicide.The current trend among states is to lower the minimum age of eligibility for waiver into adult court.To learn more about state laws requiring juveniles to be tried as adults, see the Automatic Transfer Laws and Reverse Transfer Hearings section below.). If the prosecutor or judge seeks to transfer the case to adult court, the minor is entitled to a hearing and representation by an attorney.