Today in Wyandotte County, Kansas, a juvenile judge will determine whether a 14 year old girl should be tried as an adult.  She was 13 when she allegedly tried to wrest control of a car from its 16 year old driver.  The driver was killed when his car veered out of control.

Trying children in adult court invites us to revisit why we have juvenile court in the first place.  Why shouldn’t all children be tried as adults?

Traditionally, juvenile courts have been justified by youths’ diminished moral culpability.  Adolescents have less experience than adults.  Recent science shows that their frontal lobes are not yet fully developed.  Frontal lobes are the part of the brain responsible for envisioning the future and making choices.

Most juvenile offenses are “growing up errors.”  Kids learn from their mistakes and move on.

In serious cases, diminished moral culpability seems less compelling.  I suggest that the true reason for juvenile court lies in the custody of the parents.  Children are not independent citizens.  They live in the custody of their parents.  If the act of a teen offender rises to a serious level, then the parents should lose custody.   Their child may then be tried– and punished– as an adult.