Convicted transfers did not always receive harsher sanctions than adults received

Convicted juvenile transfers differ from adult felons

The National Judicial Reporting Program compiles information on sentences that felons receive in state courts nationwide and on the felons’ characteristics. Data are collected on a sample basis every other year. The term “felony,” although not uniformly defined or used across the country, is often defined as crimes for which a convicted offender can be sentenced to more than 1 year in prison.

Juvenile-age felony defendants convicted in criminal court were identified in 1996 data from a nationally representative sample of 344 counties. These juvenile transfers included those whose cases were statutorily excluded from juvenile court jurisdiction, filed in criminal court at the discretion of prosecutors, and judicially waived from juvenile court to criminal court. The sample of transfers was large, although not statistically representative of all juvenile transfers.

Compared with adult felons, juvenile transfers were more likely to be male than female and more likely to be black than white.

Percentage of convicted felons:

Characteristic	Transferred juvenile	Adult
Gender	100%	100%
Male	96	84
Female	4	16
Race	100%	100%
White	43	53
Black	55	45
Other races	2	2
Note: Detail may not total 100% because of rounding. All racial groups include Hispanics.

Juvenile transfers were more likely than adults to be convicted of a person offense

In most states, provisions for transferring juveniles to criminal court target the most serious offenses and the most serious juvenile offenders. The result is that, compared with adult felons, transferred juveniles had a substantially greater proportion of person offense convictions (especially robbery and aggravated assault) and a smaller proportion of drug convictions.

Percentage of convicted felons:

Most serious conviction offense	Transferred juvenile	Adult
All felonies	100%	100%
Person	53%	17%
Murder	7	1
Sexual assault	4	3
Robbery	23	4
Aggravated assault	17	7
Other person	1	1
Property	27%	30%
Burglary	19	9
Larceny	8	12
Fraud	1	8
Drugs	11%	37%
Possession	3	15
Trafficking	8	22
Weapons	3%	3%
Other offenses	6%	14%
Note: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.

Some transfers received harsher sanctions than adults; others did not

Among defendants convicted of burglary, larceny, or weapons offenses, juvenile transfers were more likely to be sentenced to prison than were adult felons convicted of similar offenses.

Percentage of convicted felons sentenced to prison:

Most serious conviction offense	Transferred juvenile	Adult
All felonies	60%	37%
Person	75%	78%
Murder	96	95
Sexual assault	73	75
Robbery	79	78
Aggravated assault	67	75
Property	46%	18%
Burglary	50	20
Larceny	37	17
Drugs	31%	34%
Possession	21	28
Trafficking	34	37
Weapons	55%	39%

Among defendants convicted of murder or weapons offenses, transfers received longer prison terms than adults. However, among those convicted of sexual assault, burglary, or drug offenses, transfers received shorter prison terms than adults.

Mean maximum sentence length (in months) for convicted felons sentenced to prison: