Kenniston v. Department of Youth Services

In this case we consider the constitutionality of G. L. c. 120, §§ 17-19, the extended commitment statute (statute) for juvenile offenders. In general, when a juvenile committed to the Department of Youth Services (department) prior to his or her eighteenth birthday reaches age eighteen, the juvenile is released. See G. L. c. 120, § 16. The statute allows the continued commitment of a youth in the department’s custody for an additional three years after the youth’s eighteenth birthday if the department determines that the youth “would be physically dangerous to the public.”3 G. L. c. 120, §§…