Juvenile transfer laws—laws allowing the transfer of juvenile offenders from
juvenile to adult criminal courts—were established during the “tough on crime”
era amidst fears of juvenile “superpredators” with the purported goal of improv
ing public safety by reducing recidivism rates. However, the practice of juvenile
transfer has been shown to not only increase, rather than decrease, recidivism
rates, but also to result in a disproportionate number of children of color being
placed in adult carceral institutions. This article examines juvenile transfer
practices in Virginia in light of recent amendments to relevant laws seeking
to address these problems. In Virginia, like many other jurisdictions, trans
ferred juvenile defendants tend to remain in the criminal justice system longer
and have higher recidivism rates. Moreover, Black children have been trans
ferred to adult criminal courts and carceral facilities at disproportionately
high rates in the state. 2020 amendments to Virginia’s juvenile transfer laws
were intended to address these issues and racial disparities, most notably by
increasing the minimum age a juvenile could be tried as an adult from fourteen
to sixteen and thereby reducing the zone of discretionary decision-making among
prosecutors and judges. Through an examination of the history of juvenile trans
fer laws in Virginia, current juvenile transfer processes, and the problems such
processes pose, this article argues that recent amendments to laws governing
Virginia’s juvenile transfer process do not go far enough to protect children,
especially children of color. More specifically, it argues that these amendments
continue to provide prosecutors with excessive discretion in determining which
children to prosecute as adults. Among other things, this continuing high degree
of discretion risks perpetuating the racially disproportionate nature of Virginia’s
juvenile transfer system to the detriment of children of color, especially Black
children. While abolition of juvenile transfer laws represents the most direct way
of dealing with these issues, it is unlikely that there will be necessary political
support to abolish all juvenile transfers in the near-term. In light of these real
ities, this article identifies additional changes that could improve Virginia’s
juvenile criminal justice practices in the near term.

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