Juvenile Delinquents and Federal Criminal Law: The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act and Related Matters

Publication Date: October 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Justice

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Abstract:

Juvenile offenders of federal criminal law are primarily the responsibility of state juvenile court authorities. The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act permits federal delinquency proceedings where state courts cannot or will not accept jurisdiction. In the more serious of these cases, the juvenile offender may be transferred for trial as an adult in federal court.

The Act applies to those charged before the age of 21 with a breach of federal criminal law occurring before they reached the age of 18. Given the law enforcement predominance of state officials and the fact that a violation of federal law will ordinarily support the assertion of state juvenile court jurisdiction, most such offenders never come in contact with federal authorities. Many of those who do are returned to state officials to be processed through the state court system.

The United States Attorney, however, may elect federal proceedings if the state courts are unwilling or unable to assume jurisdiction, or the state has no adequate treatment plans, or the juvenile is charged with a crime of violence or with drug trafficking. A juvenile may be transferred for trial as adult only at his or her insistence or pursuant to a court transfer of a juvenile, 15 years of age or older, charged with drug trafficking or a crime of violence.

Federal juvenile delinquency proceedings require neither grand jury indictment, public trial, nor trial by jury. The constitutional rights available to juveniles at delinquency proceedings are otherwise much like those found in adult criminal trials.

Juveniles found delinquent may be released under suspended sentence, placed on probation, ordered to pay restitution and/or sentenced to the custody of the Attorney General for detention. The period of detention, if any, may not exceed the term which might be imposed upon an adult offender for the same misconduct.

This report provides an overview of the history of federal juvenile delinquency law, current federal law, and the stages of juvenile adjudications. A survey noting the circumstances under which state law permits juveniles may be tried as adults under state law and a selected legal bibliography are appended.