District Attorneys use a practice known as "direct file" to charge children as adults. In most states, this is a power reserved to judges. But in 1993, Colorado held a special legislative session to address concerns over a perception that gang violence was on the rise. District Attorneys actively lobbied for the right to charge juveniles as adults in order to deter them from committing violent crimes such as drive-by-shootings. In spite of this power, juvenile violent crime continued to rise through the 1990s, but fell off during the 2000s. Since its inception direct file has been used thousands of times to charge children as adults. In many cases this has resulted in extremely stiff sentencing for young offenders.
District Attorneys argue that their power to file adult charges is not a conflict of interest created through their power to both "enforce" and "adjudicate" a juvenile. Defense Attorneys feel that the practice is unfair and doesn't allow an impartial judge to decide if there is enough evidence to warrant an adult trial.
In the "Great DA Debate" two attornies square off over the morality, legality and politics of direct filing adult charges against kids.