ABSTRACT
Under the law, a juvenile is any person under the legal age of adulthood in a given jurisdiction. This age varies from state to state, but in most states, the District of Columbia, and in all federal districts, any person age 18 or younger is considered a juvenile. In several states such as New York, Connecticut, and North Carolina, a juvenile is age 16 or less, and in Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin, a juvenile is age 17 or less. Wyoming is the only state that has established the age of juveniles to be 19 or younger (Whitehead and Lab, 1999).
