Juvenile Court Did Not Abuse It’s Discretion in Certifying Juvenile to Adult Court

In the Matter of the Welfare of J.H., Minn.S.Ct., 3/19/2014.  This comes up from the court of appeals.  Read about it here.  Justice Dietzen, for a unanimous court, reverses the court of appeals, which, in turn, had reversed the juvenile court.  Contrary to what the court of appeals had said, in certifying a juvenile to adult court the juvenile court is not required to expressly weigh the seriousness of the alleged offense and the child’s prior record of delinquency separate from the other statutory factors.  Further, the juvenile court is not required to specifically delineate how its determination of these two factors impacted its certification decision.