A Proposal to Allow the Presentation of Mitigation in Juvenile Court so that Juvenile Charges May be Expunged in Appropriate Cases

Abstract

Many people believe that juvenile adjudications of delinquency are automatically expunged upon the youth reaching the age of majority. In reality, a juvenile adjudication of delinquency—especially for a felony—can significantly limit a teenager’s future ability to obtain student loans and scholarships, join the military, participate in athletics, become a firefighter or a law enforcement officer or obtain one of many jobs. As discussed herein, the majority of youth facing charges in delinquency court are suffering from severe socio-economic deprivation, are victims of emotional, physical or sexual abuse, or have serious mental health issues. Many youth caught up in the delinquency system are impacted by more than one of these factors, each of which places a teenager at significantly greater risk of engaging in delinquent behavior. Society tells these young people to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps,” but at the same time significantly limits their ability to do just that by labeling them felons—often violent felons—for the rest of their lives. This article argues that effectively foreclosing a young person’s future based upon behavior that is linked to circumstances beyond their control violates the Eighth Amendment’s proscription on cruel and unusual punishment. This article proposes an alternative framework that allows young people to have their juvenile records expunged if they fulfill certain criteria. This would benefit society as well as the young defendants, as it would lower the levels of adult recidivism.