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55 Duq. L. Rev. 221 (2017)
Adjusting the Bright-Line Age of Accountability within the Criminal Justice System: Raising the Age of Majority to Age 21 Based on the Conclusions of Scientific Studies regarding Neurological Development and Culpability of Young-Adult Offenders

handle is hein.journals/duqu55 and id is 229 raw text is: Adjusting the Bright-Line Age of Accountability within the Criminal Justice System: Raising the Age of Majority to Age 21 based on the Conclusions of Scientific Studies Regarding Neurological Development and Culpability of Young-Adult Offenders Carly Loom is-Gustafson* ABSTRACT The criminal justice system determines a criminal actor's liability based primarily on the age of the actor at the time of the offense, adhering to a rule instituted by arbitrary designation of adulthood at the age of eighteen. Solely, this line determines the degree of treat- ment a criminal defendant will receive within the system, with more punitive measures being reserved for adult offenders and greater re- habilitative efforts made for juvenile offenders. Despite the many concessions made within the criminal system, this rule is concrete and rarely questioned. However, studies of neurological development show that the part of the brain directly related to the ability to understand choices and consequences, playing a direct role in culpability, does not fully de- velop until the mid-twenties, three to five years after a person is deemed capable of making mature decisions. This leads to a dis- crepancy within the criminal system, with youthful adults being forced within the adult system to face potentially negative influences and life-long consequences, though, mentally, they are not any more blameworthy than youthful offenders in the decisions they make. This article argues that the age of majority within the criminal system should be raised to the age of twenty-one, at a minimum, * 2017 J.D. Candidate at Duquesne University School of Law; B.S. in Political Science, 2010, cum laude, Sam Houston State University. I would like to thank my faculty advisor and mentor, Professor Jan M. Levine, for his invaluable guidance during this project. I would also like to thank my husband, Kevin Gustafson, for his endless support, and my parents, Doug and Gena Loomis, for raising me with a passion and love for the most help- less among us. 221

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