Melinda Rose Chasteen is too young to legally drink, buy a pack of cigarettes or vote in an election.
But she is not too young to be serving a term of five years to life in the Utah State Prison.
Chasteen, who turned 16 in June, was sentenced last week by 2nd District Judge Ernie Jones. The Ogden teen previously pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, in the Dec. 1, 2002, stabbing of an officer at the Weber Valley Juvenile Detention Center.
She is now the youngest inmate in the Utah State Prison, and the only female under 18, according to state Department of Corrections records.
She also has become part of a debate that has raged for more than a decade over placing juveniles in adult prisons.
In the early 1990s, Utah and other states enacted laws to "get tough" on juveniles as concern grew about their participation in violent crimes. Utah's Serious Youth Offender Act, which lays out the path from juvenile to adult court, was passed in 1995 during a surge in gang activity. Research has shown that nationally, the number of juveniles incarcerated in adult facilities more than doubled between 1985 and 1997.
Today, that number is declining. In 1995, about 5,300 state inmates were under 18, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics. As of midyear 2002, the most recent figures available, that had dropped to 3,055 juveniles, the bureau said -- only 112 of them female.
Juveniles make up less than one-half of 1 percent of the population in state prisons. Some experts maintain adult prison is no place for those under 18.
"You really want to reserve it for, really, the worst of the worst of the worst," said Jeffrey Fagan, a professor of law and public health at Columbia University in New York.
Research has shown that juveniles in adult facilities are more likely to witness violence -- or become victims of violence -- than they might elsewhere, Fagan said. While many juvenile offenders have experienced violence before, he said, the level can be far higher in an adult prison.
In addition, late adolescence can be a critical developmental stage, Fagan said. "You and I passed that stage in mixed company," he said, but juveniles in prison do not.
Instead, "they learn about adulthood from cons," he said. "I hate to be grim about it, but it's a lie-down-with-dogs, get-up-with-fleas problem."
It is unlikely any juvenile will serve a true life sentence in prison. When they are released, they must battle a variety of stigmas that can block transition to a normal adult life, Fagan said. Some are internal. Some are economic, meaning it may be tough for them to get a job and adjust to a workplace.
"There's a disadvantage that attaches to them," Fagan said. "They come out, basically, with their futures mortgaged."
Chasteen and co-defendant Jessica Grundie were both 15 when they were accused of planning to kill the female guard with a knife Chasteen allegedly had smuggled inside in her shoe. They apparently had planned to escape from the facility after killing other guards, stealing clothes and cars and freeing other juveniles, according to court documents. The guard recovered from the attack. Grundie, now also 16, is set for sentencing Dec. 10.
Chasteen is one of only three inmates under 18 at the Utah State Prison, said Corrections spokesman Jack Ford. The others are Tyler Atwood and Matthew Prieto, both 17 and serving sentences of five years to life for convictions of first-degree felony aggravated robbery.
Atwood will turn 18 later this month. Prison records show 54 other inmates entered prison under the age of 18 but have since reached adulthood.
Teens receive no special favors because of their age, Ford said. "We treat them as an adult.
They're certified as an adult. They're convicted as an adult."
But while female inmates are not segregated according to their crime or their behavior, as male inmates are, "we will separate [Chasteen] from the predators," Ford said.
By the time juveniles wind up in adult prison, though, they more than likely belong there, said Michael Christensen, juvenile division chief of the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office. "At that point in time, you've got to be able to protect society," he said.
A variety of screening factors tends to ensure that in most cases, it is indeed the worst of the worst who are sent to the adult system, Christensen said. Some juveniles may meet the initial criteria to be certified to stand trial as an adult, but because of the nature of their crimes or the circumstances, they may stay in the juvenile system, he said.
On the other hand, there are " some kids out there that would kill you in a heartbeat," Christensen said.
Even Fagan agrees that Chasteen probably deserved to go to prison.
"This is a girl who attempted to kill somebody," he said. "That's exactly the kind of narrowing and selection principles that I think is right to use.
"This is harsh medicine. It's a bit like chemotherapy. And you really don't want to give chemotherapy to people who don't really have cancer."