Concurrent Jurisdiction A Priority for Defense Department

The Defense Department has made it a priority to establish concurrent jurisdiction between state and federal courts as a way to ensure military youth are not denied the equal protection of state laws and resources that consider the best interests of the youth’s rehabilitative goals and concerns, weighed with punishment and incapacitation, while protecting the military community.

Juvenile delinquent acts committed on military installations in areas with exclusive federal legislative jurisdiction can only be adjudicated in the federal court system designed for adults, which lacks appropriate juvenile-focused resources and often tries juveniles as adults.

Concurrent jurisdiction is when multiple courts are able to hear a particular case. But juveniles on military installations involved in cases, such as problematic sexual behavior in children and youth, often have their cases heard exclusively in adult courts.

The problem is these courts lack the resources to help juvenile offenders, often denying families resources that could help youth work through their issues.

By contrast, when these cases are heard in state juvenile and family courts, it gives children and youth access to resources that can lead to more suitable outcomes, including more appropriate sentencing.

Recent adolescent brain research forced policy changes:

• This developmental psychology, supported by neuroscience, demonstrated youth’s developmental immaturity and susceptibility to negative peer influences, but more importantly demonstrated a capacity for change and rehabilitation.
• This increased awareness of the teenage brain has impacted juvenile justice reform. Considering juvenile delinquent acts and juvenile justice through a scientific lens changes how youth are sentenced when prosecuted in the criminal justice system, as well as required the adoption of new rules and standards for law enforcement interrogation of youth, youth’s competency to stand trial and the reliability of youth confessions.
• Scientific evidence shows frontal brain regions related to organization, planning and inhibitory control are not fully developed until the end of adolescence (the mid-twenties, the third decade of life), being the last to mature.

Risky behavior presents more frequently during adolescence, and typically peaks between the ages of 17 and 19; however, only a small percentage of young offenders escalate their behavior, committing crimes during adulthood.

In 2022, state policymakers in Arizona, Connecticut, New Hampshire and North Carolina took steps to establish concurrent juvenile jurisdiction.

To address juvenile-on-juvenile illegal acts on military bases, the cleanest, easiest way to do so is to authorize that to happen. State lawmakers can pursue solutions supporting military families with this decision chart and the Defense-State Liaison Office’s support.

State lawmakers can help ensure that youth on military installations receive the same protections under the law that they would living in civilian communities by working to remove the barriers to concurrent juvenile jurisdiction and pursuing solutions that support military families.