Youth Prosecution.pdf

California's juvenile justice system prioritizes rehabilitation and education over punishment, but laws have created pathways for youth to be prosecuted as adults, bypassing the juvenile system. Since 2003, over 10,000 youth have been prosecuted as adults, with 70% being direct filed by prosecutors. Direct file allows prosecutors to charge youth as young as 14 directly in adult court, often without considering their life circumstances or potential for rehabilitation. This practice undermines the mission of the juvenile justice system and produces negative consequences, including more severe sentences, life disruptions, and psycho-emotional trauma. The burden of direct file falls heavily on youth of color, with wide disparities across California's 58 counties. Despite decreasing youth crime rates, the use of direct file increased by 4% from 2014 to 2015, with stark racial and ethnic disparities. Proposition 57, on the 2016 California ballot, aims to end prosecutors' ability to direct file charges against youth, returning authority to juvenile court judges.