Florida’s Prosecution of Children as Adults under its “Direct File” Statute
April 10, 2014
The 110-page report, “Branded for Life: Florida’s Prosecution of Children as Adults under its 'Direct File' Statute,” details the harm that results from the state’s practice of giving prosecutors full discretion to decide which children to prosecute in adult courts. More than 98 percent of the 1,500 cases of children charged as adults between 2012 and 2013 were brought by prosecutors under the direct file statute. The law offers no opportunity for a judge to review or reverse the prosecutor’s decision, no matter how unsuitable the case is for criminal court.
What Florida should do: Prosecutors in Florida are using unfettered power to send children to adult court unfairly and arbitrarily. The state should give that power to independent juvenile court judges.