There is a continuing pattern of using the juvenile justice system to intervene aggressively in girls' lives, influenced by the gender bias of criminal justice actors such as police officers and prosecutors, who have the authority to make discretionary decisions in juvenile cases. Consequently, girls experience the negative impact of juvenile justice processing and labeling in cases where their conduct is either only marginally criminal or not criminal at all. As the juvenile justice system moves to a more punitive, less rehabilitative model, it is less acceptable than ever to intervene aggressively in the lives of girls who have not engaged in conduct that would result in delinquency charges if the juvenile were male. Other ways must be pursued to address the needs of troubled female adolescents. This article concludes that noncriminal conduct and de minimis conduct should not lead to juvenile justice intervention. It suggests measures to restrict the impact of biased decision-making regarding female juveniles. In addition, the author advocates improving programs for girls in the juvenile justice system, as well as providing better social programs for girls at risk of entering that system. 128 footnotes