Juvenile crime regards any illegal acts committed by someone under the age of 18. While the laws are the same for juveniles as they are for adults, the penalties may be different. Still, controversy surrounds the punishing of juvenile offenders. A s juvenile crime rates and the severity of juvenile crimes fluctuate, so does the public response. Because public outcry can affect the political fortunes of elected or appointed prosecutors, public sentiment can affect the way in which a juvenile case is handled.

The most recent statistics show that 2.3 million juveniles were arrested in 2001. Of these, 28 percent were female and 32 percent were under the age of 15. The greatest number of these arrests involved property crime. Other offenses included burglary, larceny or theft, motor vehicle theft and arson. In 2001, juveniles accounted for nearly one quarter of all persons arrested for robbery.

There has been great debate over the penalties for juvenile offenders. As an example, school shootings have raised questions of how to punish violent juveniles.

The debate over whether violent juvenile offenders should be tried as adults seems to be debated each time a violent crime is committed by someone under the age of 18. Indeed, prosecutors may have an option of pursing a juvenile prosecution in an adult criminal court with adult punishments.

Although the Supreme Court ruled that no person under the age of 16 may be executed for a crime, twenty states with capital punishment laws have established 16 as the minimum age for execution. Questions remain over placing juvenile offenders in adult prisons or sending them to juvenile facilities for rehabilitation.