The Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) has made the controversial decision to seek the release of a 15-year-old girl who pled guilty to the hate crime of beating a transgendered woman in April of last year. The earlier-than-anticipated release will be officially opposed by the office of the Assistant State Attorney for Baltimore County.

The 18-year-old who committed the hate crime alongside the minor was sentenced to three years of probation following five years in prison. The early release of the minor offender shows that a defendant's fate can be very different depending on whether they are charged with juvenile crime or tried as an adult.

Incarceration of juveniles in Maryland is a very different process than adult incarceration. Juveniles incarcerated in Maryland are not generally sentenced to a specific amount of time that they must serve.

The DJS is generally tasked with providing juvenile offenders treatment for one month to one year in a secured facility. After minors are evaluated as ready for release, they move to the care of their families, group homes or foster families.

The minors are only released if the DJS evaluation is accepted by a juvenile court judge. The judge takes into account any objections voiced by prosecutors.

Incarceration of juveniles in Maryland is focused heavily on the idea of treatment and rehabilitation, so that the minors may ultimately be given a fighting chance to live their adult lives as productive members of society. Seeking the release of the minor in the transgender beating case is not an attempt to excuse the crime, but an expression of faith in the principles of the juvenile justice system.

Source: Washington Blade, "Md. juvenile authorities seek release of youth charged in transgender beating case," Lou Chibbaro Jr., Feb. 2, 2012