When you turn 16 in North Carolina, you still can't vote, or drive on your own at night. You can't buy cigarettes or alcohol, or get a tattoo. But you can be charged, tried and convicted as an adult in the criminal justice system.

North Carolina is one of only two states in the country that automatically prosecutes 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. But this might be the year state lawmakers raise the age of adult prosecution.