Supreme Judicial Court hears whether juveniles charged under Chapter 269 §10(a) must be adjudicated

At oral argument before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, attorneys for the Commonwealth and for a juvenile defendant sparred over whether a delinquency complaint charging a juvenile with violating chapter 269, section 10(a) requires a formal adjudication of delinquency rather than a continuation without a finding.

The issue matters because chapter 1, section 58, paragraph 7 of the juvenile-sentencing statute imposes a mandatory minimum DYS commitment of "a hundred and 80 days or until the juvenile's eighteenth birthday, whichever occurs first," for an adjudication on certain firearm offenses; the Commonwealth told the court that statutory language and the 1996 amendments require a judicial adjudication before that mandatory minimum can attach.

Attorney Molly Paris, "on behalf of the Commonwealth," told the court: "The discreet issue before this court is whether an adjudication is required for [a] juvenile charge by delinquency complaint for violating chapter 269, section 10(a). The answer is yes." Paris argued the plain language of c.269 —10(a) ("prosecutions commenced under this…