The law governing the disposition of juveniles charged with murder and other violent offenses has always reflected an ambivalence regarding the moral and social significance of the offender's youthfulness on the one hand and of the seriousness of the offense on the other. The recent shift toward a just-deserts paradigm in juvenile dispositions has heightened this conflict. Even though the juvenile court's jurisdiction traditionally encompasses offenders under 18 years old, all States permit criminal court jurisdiction over 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds charged with murder. Because of the variation in the dispositional authority available to the juvenile and criminal courts, and in dispositional practice as well, the choice of court is probably the most critical issue in any juvenile case involving a murder charge. In most States, where the choice of court rests on a judicial determination regarding the juvenile's amenability to treatment, judges consider the retributive and deterrent purposes of punishment as well. 4 tables, 39 references.