In re Tyriq T.

Juvenile Law Center filed an amicus brief in the Connecticut Supreme Court on behalf of Tyriq T., who was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit and possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle when he was 16. The state moved to try him as an adult. The motion to transfer was granted and Tyriq T. appealed to the appellate court, which dismissed his appeal on the basis that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction because his was an appeal of an interlocutory order. Tyriq T. then appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court challenging the lower court’s refusal to hear his appeal of the original transfer order from juvenile court.

Juvenile Law Center argued that rulings on discretionary transfers from juvenile to adult criminal court are subject to immediate appeal. We argued that recent United States Supreme Court holdings adopting current knowledge of adolescent development – and its applicability to youth involved with the criminal justice system – warrants a revisiting of the Connecticut Supreme Court’s earlier holding that youth do not suffer great and irreparable harm when they are forced to await a final judgment in adult court before they can challenge the transfer ruling.

Specifically, Juvenile Law Center argued, first, that interlocutory appeal of rulings on discretionary transfer from juvenile to adult court is critical given the unique developmental window of adolescence. Second, we argued that interlocutory appeal of discretionary transfer rulings is necessary since adult prisons often lack appropriate educational and rehabilitative programming, are frequently unable to protect children from violence and self-harm, and increase the likelihood of future reoffending.

National Center for Youth Law joined this brief. 

On August 19, 2014, the Court affirmed the lower court and held that transfer rulings were not "final orders" under applicable Connecticut statutes and case law. Justice Eveleigh, joined by Justice Robinson, filed a lengthy dissenting opinion, in which he disputed the majority's statutory analysis, stressed the importance of recent U.S. Supreme Court case law in addressing Tyriq T's arguments, and echoed much of the arguments set forth in the brief of Amici.