Judging Children As Children: A Proposal for a Juvenile Justice System

When is it appropriate to punish a child in the same way as we do an adult criminal? In this book, Judge Michael Corriero draws on his fourteen years experience in hearing the cases of troubled children and children (as young as 13) in trouble with the law. Across the United States, state laws require that children charged with serious crimes be tried as adults and restrict judicial discretion in sentencing them. Judge Corriero argues that such policies are both unjust and ineffective. In their place he proposes a juvenile justice system that would assess each child under the age of eighteen being considered for prosecution as an adult in order identify those who are capable of overcoming their problems without compromising public safety. Using cases from his own court in Manhattan, Judge Corriero amply demonstrates that the current punitive policies fail to steer children away from crime and that both society and the child benefit from a more individualized approach.