A divided New Jersey Supreme Court on Wednesday put heightened judicial scrutiny on prosecutors’ decisions to waive offenders age 16 or older from juvenile court to adult criminal court.
The justices, in State in the Interest of V.A., A-9/19/20, voted 3 to 2 to change the standard of review from “patent and gross abuse of discretion” to simple “abuse of discretion.” The majority called the latter standard more appropriate “[i]n light of the enhanced punishment looming as a result of the serious decision to waive a juvenile from family to adult court.”
