Don't Treat Young Adults as Teenagers
"Over the past dozen years, the Supreme Court has issued several landmark
decisions affirming that adolescents and adults are fundamentally
different in ways that justify treating minors less harshly when they
violate the criminal law. The court, drawing on psychological and brain
science indicating that people under age 18 are not yet fully capable of
controlling their behavior, abolished the juvenile death penalty and
greatly restricted life without parole sentences for crimes by
juveniles. As scientists and legal scholars who specialize in these
issues, we have welcomed these changes with enthusiasm.
But in recent months, a number of advocates have sought to extend the developmental immaturity argument to young adults, proposing
that the age of juvenile court jurisdiction be raised to 21 from 18,
where it now stands in almost all states. This idea has gained some
real-world traction....
Such reform, though well intended, is premature at best. While
considerable scientific evidence supports the distinction that the
Supreme Court endorsed between adolescents under age 18 and adults,
research on the maturity of young adults (i.e., those between 18 and 21)
is at an early stage. We know that brain maturation continues past age
18, but it is not clear that the brains of 20-year-olds are so immature
that they should be treated as if they are teenagers."
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