American Bar Association adult justice system is the wrong answer for most juveniles.

t he American Bar Association (ABA) does not publish reviews of sociologic and criminologic research projects, but it does have firm policy egarding the transfer of juveniles into the adult justice ystem. The ABA believes that underage defendants generlly should not be placed in the adult system. Thus, the rowing trend by courts to try minors as adults has tirred deep concern within the association. The association began reviewing this issue in the late 990s, following a decade in which the policy of transerring juvenile defendants to adult courts increased in lmost every state. In 2001, a report, Youth in the Criminal Justice System: uidelines for Policymakers and Practitioners,1 outlined the nherent dangers of such a policy. In February 2002, the ABA House of Delegates assed a resolution based on the report by the Task orce on Youth in the Criminal System of the Criminal ustice Section. The resolution, which remains the ABA’s guiding olicy, was founded on seven pillars: