N.C. is One of Only Two States to Treat 16-Year-Old Offenders as Adults: Two States with Similar Rules are Changing their Laws.
In North Carolina, a teenagers aged 16 or over are tried and punished in the same way as adults. (Anyone who remembers being 16, or who has a 16-year-old realizes how absurd this is.) This means that a 16 year-old defendant is treated and punished just the same as an adult. Several other jurisdictions with similar statutes are doing away with them. North Carolina is one of only two states in the country (the other is New York) that treat 16 year-old offenders as adults.
According to the New York Times, as reported by North Carolina Criminal Law Blog, both South Carolina and Louisiana are looking at changing the laws so that 17 year-olds are treated as minors and punished through the juvenile, rather than the adult court system.
In North Carolina, the N.C. Commission on the Administration of Law & Justice is similarly advocating for similar action in the Tar Heel State.
Contact our Greensboro criminal defense attorneys, who operate in Greensboro, High Point and Randolph County for a free consultation today.