Just Kids: Establishing a Minimum Age of Jurisdiction in Maine’s Juvenile Court

From the Abstract:

In Maine, there is no such thing as a child too young to be prosecuted. Maine’s Juvenile Code grants the juvenile court jurisdiction over a child of any age, even one who would have been considered too young to prosecute in the fifteenth century. As of 2024, just over half of states in the country have rejected this approach and established minimum ages of jurisdiction for their juvenile courts. These minimum age laws protect the youngest, least culpable, and least competent children from prosecution, and generally require states to respond to young children through services rather than punishment.

This Comment argues that Maine should join this growing movement and establish a minimum age of jurisdiction in its juvenile courts.