For the past decade, 17-year-olds have been in the adult criminal justice system in Wisconsin, unable to benefit from the rehabilitation programs offered to teens in the juvenile system. During that time, significant strides have been made in understanding how adolescents think, how their brains develop, and how they make decisions. It has become well understood that although adolescents may look like adults, they do not yet have the ability to think through decisions as adults do. Impulsiveness and recklessness remain hallmarks of adolescent behavior, and continue to drive adolescents into conflicts with the law. Despite these gains in understanding, the laws continue to treat adolescents as if they had the same decision-making capacity as adults.

How Adult is Adult Treatment?

Seventeen-year-olds who are arrested can be taken directly to the county jail, booked and processed as adults without so much as a call to their parents. They can be held, without separation, with older adults in jails and prisons, and are often held in jail pre-trail because their youth is counted against them in adult court as a factor that makes them less likely to show up for court--ironically, the same impulsive behavior that causes them to engage in law-breaking behavior in the first place. In cases originating in 2005 involving 17-year-olds, over 1,000 kids were sentenced to jail time. That number does not account for all of the kids held pre-sentencing, which would probably at least double that total.

How Do 17-Year-Olds Compare to Younger Offenders?

As we move forward, it is critical to re-evaluate how we are treating our young people in court, and the impact of that treatment on society as a whole. It is easy to get caught in the trap of focusing on a small number of violent offenders, and therefore argue that all 17-year-olds are adults who commit adult crimes and deserve adult punishments. Understanding the big picture of who is arrested in Wisconsin and for what crimes is essential to ensuring that our justice system is dealing effectively with both the majority of law violators and the minority who are serious offenders.

Wisconsin's arrest rate for juveniles is extraordinarily high -- fifth highest in the nation. That does not mean there is a high level of violent crime, but rather a high level of enforcement of laws and local ordinances. Wisconsin's juvenile arrest rate is almost triple the national average, with the bulk of arrests being for nonviolent crimes such as liquor law violations and disorderly conduct. Wisconsin's juvenile arrest rate for disorderly conduct is six times the national rate.

Recognizing that 17-year-olds are still juveniles in terms of their decision-making processes, the only reasonable way to ensure that they are treated fairly in court is to return them to the juvenile system. There is significant support from diverse groups for such a legislative change, including public defenders, district attorneys, judges, sheriffs, county human service providers, and psychologists. The vast majority of crimes committed by 17-year-olds could be handled in the juvenile court, and in the rare instance a district attorney feels a particular situation would be better handled in adult court, a waiver petition could be filed.

The main obstacle to returning 17-year-olds to the juvenile court is the challenge of providing adequate funding for counties to provide developmentally appropriate services. This budget issue must be addressed by the legislature to make sure the transition back to the juvenile system is a smooth one. It has been established that the outcomes for young people who are tried in the juvenile system are much better than those of their counterparts tried in the adult system. An up-front investment in juvenile services will save the state and counties money in the long run.

Access to services can deter a 17-year-old from a future life of crime. No one knows this better than the people on the front lines providing services to Wisconsin's youth. But we all know intuitively that a 17-year-olds simply is not an adult, and deserves a chance to finish growing up before being pinned with a lifelong criminal record, especially for a relatively minor crime. The Council is actively engaged in trying to return 17-year-olds to the juvenile court. If you want to stay in touch with these efforts and help us achieve this goal, please sign up for our Youth Initiative e-newsletter at http://capwiz.com/wccf/mlm/signup/.