State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Eugene Monahan, Defendant, and Michael Monahan, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The Court held that under New Jersey statutes a 15‑year‑old who participated in a robbery during which his father killed two persons is not triable for first‑degree murder in the criminal court; exclusive jurisdiction lies with the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Accordingly the order denying transfer was set aside and the case remanded for further proceedings in that court. The decision rests on the clear legislative mandate that children under sixteen are deemed incapable of committing a crime and on the parens patriae policy. The opinion was accompanied by dissenting opinions contesting the overruling of In re Mei.