A merger would increase efficiency, reduce the frictions that currently result from transferring some juvenile cases to criminal court, and would modify or eliminate the criminal justice system's inappropriate concept of a "fresh start" for a hardened juvenile offender who is a first offender in adult court. However, the case against abolition is even stronger. It rests on the view that minors have less responsibility for their misconduct than do adults; that it is important to retain control over status offenses like running away; that the greater rehabilitation potential of minors justifies a greater allocation of resources; and that certain legal rules, such as those concerning bail, are inappropriate for juveniles. 25 footnotes.