I should clarify some of the infommation I provided earlier.

Felonies committed by juveniles are generally broken into those that can be charged as an adult and those thatcannot.Specifically, in WV, felonies that involve violence (considered by the FBI as PartI offenses such as Rape, Robbery, Burglary, Arson, Child sexual Assault) are the crimes set up to be considered for adult prosecution of juveniles. Property crimes are not included. Traffic crimes are not included. Each state will vary on the subject.

In my state, and in most I know of, charging a juvenile as an adult is a process presentedto a judge (usually the juvenile court judge - they are normally very liberal)forconsideration before it can even happen. The cops dont decide for themselves (Thank GOD as we are not the best at making those decisions!). As such, I think you will find that it is actually very unusual for a juvenile to be charged as an adult. Perhaps in 1% of the cases, if that. I have heard that some crimes in some states are required to charge a juvenile 14 or over as an adult if they are charged withmurder, but I'm not aware of the states, or even if that is actually true.

I've seen 1 case in 15 years, an armed robbery case. That 17 year old got a 15 year sentence. He stuck a gun in a girls ear during a robbery. He got what he deserved in sentencing. Of course, if you live in a place with more crime - you may see more thant that, but it is hardly the routine the media would have us all beleive. I would bet its still under 1%. Just that your 1% is a larger sample than mine, lol.

Please dont confuse this with juveniles being sent away or locked up as juveniles - they can be and are routinely sent to facilities for incarceration and rehabilitation. They are even sometimes sent to facilities as juveniles and serve their sentences until they are 25 years old. It still only counts as a juvenile crime because that is the court of jurisdiction when the sentence is imposed. Thisis simply done through juvenile court and does not result in any permanent record upon turning 18. They do not have a fingerprint card at the state and FBI level, and therefore do not have a criminal history. Criminal histories are required to be linked to fingerprint cards taken at the time of arrest. Thats why they print a person each time they are arrested - even when the cops have 10 sets of prints on the person already.

The pointI'm trying to clarify is that just because a juvenile commits a crime does not mean that they will in any way have a criminal record, evenif they get sent away. In fact, just the opposite is true. They almost certainly dont have a permanent criminal history. They only get a criminal record permanently if they commit as serious felony (Rape, Robbery, Burglary, Arson, Child Sexual Assault) and are charged as and tried as an adult as specified for a juvenile being charged as an adult under that state's laws.

Of course they are always appointed a lawyer and represented throughout all these process at taxpayers expense regardless of what they have or have not been charged with.