Six-Year-Olds Can Be Prosecuted in North Carolina Courts. A New Bill Seeks to Change That.

[TexasTowelie]

In December, when North Carolina’s Raise the Age law takes effect, the state will no longer be the only one in the country to automatically prosecute sixteen and seventeen-year-olds as adults. The law raises the age of juvenile jurisdiction for nonviolent crimes from sixteen to eighteen, meaning all cases involving anyone under eighteen would start in the juvenile court system, though some serious offenses would be transferred to adult court.

The change, passed in 2017, was rooted in the idea that teens are better served by a juvenile justice system that focuses on intervention than a system built for detaining adults.

Noticeably absent from conversations about raising the maximum age of juvenile jurisdiction, however, is that there’s also a minimum age at which juveniles can be prosecuted in court.

It’s six.

Of states that have a minimum age of juvenile jurisdiction, North Carolina’s is the lowest.

Read more: https://indyweek.com/news/northcarolina/kids-six-can-be-prosecuted-in-nc-courts/