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Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

Do most states set a minimum age for juvenile-court defendants?

By Lisa Freedland
NO

Most U.S. states don’t set a minimum age at which children may be prosecuted in juvenile courts, according to data collected by the National Juvenile Defender Center.

Fifteen states set the minimum age at 10. No state sets the minimum age higher than 12. The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child advocates that the minimum age of criminal responsibility be at least 14, already the most common choice internationally.

Advocates in some states, like North Carolina, have called to raise the minimum age required for trial as a juvenile delinquent from six to 10 years old. Bills in other states like Georgia are seeking to raise the maximum age at which a minor can be tried in juvenile court for misdemeanors. In every state, laws allow youth accused of more serious offenses to be tried as adults, regardless of age.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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