Discuss blended sentences.

State sentencing trends indicate that punishment and accountability, in addition to rehabilitation, have become equally important in juvenile justice policy.
 As a result, many states have created blended sentencing structures for cases involving serious offenders.
 Blended sentencing allows the imposition of juvenile and adult sanctions for juvenile offenders adjudicated in juvenile court or convicted in criminal court.
 In other words, this expanded sentencing authority allows criminal and juvenile courts to impose either a juvenile or an adult sentence, or both, in cases involving juvenile offenders.
 When both sentences are imposed simultaneously, the court suspends the adult sanction. If the youth follows the conditions of the juvenile sentence and commits no further violation, the adult sentence is revoked.
 Blended sentences of one type or another exist in 26 states.
 Student views will vary.