by Woody West

About the author: Woody West is associate editor of Insight, a weekly newsmagazine.

Rarely do you hear the phrase “juvenile delinquency”—a term prevalent decades ago that signified worrisome but not cataclysmic behavior. As ever- younger predators not only violate personal safety and property rights and disregard moral standards, however, “delinquency” seems a quaint label.

An Emerging Consensus to Get Tough on Violent Juveniles

Homicide arrests among 14- to 17-year-olds have tripled during the last decade, for grotesque example, and that age group will expand by 20 percent during the next decade. There appears to be a fitful consensus emerging about how to handle these youthful raptors, but it is bitterly controversial.

Across the country, states are making drastic changes in handling juveniles. “The thrust of the...