Competence to Stand Trial and Young Children: Is the Presumption of Competence Valid?

Abstract

ABSTRACT The competence of juveniles to stand trial has received increasing scrutiny over the past two decades as the juvenile justice system has shifted from a rehabilitative focus to a model more resembling the adult criminal justice system. Although concerns about protecting the due process rights of juveniles often focus on adolescents facing transfer to the adult system, even those youth remaining in the juvenile system must meet competency standards in most states. Research reveals that developmental immaturity often leaves young children particularly vulnerable to the types of deficits related to incompetence to stand trial. However, although children are presumed to be incompetent in most legal contexts, competence to stand trial in juvenile court carries the same presumption of competence as exists in the adult criminal justice system. We describe the cases of two young (under age 12) children evaluated for competence in order to highlight some of the difficulties inherent in presuming competence among very young defendants.