profound impact on New York’s criminal justice system and is seen as a massive win for reformers who 
have been pushing for better treatment of children at Rikers Island for years. 
Listen to the story and read more at: 
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/raise-age-new-york-minors-rikers 
4 
Judicial waiver affords the juvenile court judge the authority to transfer a case to adult criminal court. 
5 
There are three types of judicial waiver: discretionary, presumptive, and mandatory. 
The discretionary (regular) transfer allows a judge to transfer a juvenile from juvenile court to adult 
criminal court. 
6 With this type of transfer, the burden of proof rests with the state and the prosecutor must 
confirm that the juvenile is not amenable to treatment. As discussed previously, in Kent v. United States (383 
U.S. 541, 566-67 [1966]), the Supreme Court outlined threshold criteria that must be met before a court 
can consider waiving a case. These waiver statutes typically include a minimum age, the specified type of 
offense, a sufficiently serious prior record, or a combination of the three. 
Presumptive waiver shifts the burden of proof from the State to the defendant. It is presumptive because 
it is presumed that it will occur unless the youth can meet the burden of proof and provide a justifiable reason 
to remain in juvenile court. If the youth is unable to show just cause or sufficient reason why the case should 
be tried in juvenile court, the case will be transferred and tried in adult court. 
The third type of judicial waiver is a mandatory waiver. Mandatory waiver means that a juvenile judge 
must automatically transfer to adult court juvenile offenders who meet certain criteria, such as age and 
current offense. In these cases, the role of the judge is simply to confirm that the waiver criteria are met and 
then to transfer the case to adult court. Mandatory waiver attempts to remove all discretionary powers from 
the juvenile court judge in transfer proceedings. 
7 
 
4. Restivo, E. (2019, Feb 14).  Stop putting juveniles in solitary confinement. Daily News. https://www.greensburgdailynews.com/
opinion/columns/stop-putting-juveniles-in-solitary-confinement/article_d438d7bc-4e3d-5a9e-97da-22706d6037c8.html 
5. Hemmens, S.,  & Bell, C. (2006). Legislative waiver reconsidered: General deterrent effects of statutory exclusion laws enacted Post 1990. 
Justice Quarterly, 23(1), p34-59. 
6. Sanborn, J. (2004). The adultification of youth. In P. Benekos & A. Merlo (Eds.), Controversies in juvenile justice and delinquency (pp. 
143-164). Anderson Publishing. 
7. Burke, A. (2016). Trends of the time. 
Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System
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