Title: The Treatment of Young Offenders in the American Justice System
1The Treatment of Young Offenders in the American
Justice System
- Judge Tom C. Rawlings
- Juvenile Courts, Georgia
- United States
- tom_at_sandersville.net
- www.tomrawlings.com
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3Juvenile Courts
- 100-year-old tradition
- Designed to treat and rehabilitate young
offenders. - Punishment is designed to prevent children from
going too far astray
4Goals of Juvenile Justice
- Increase Safety In Communities
- Hold Juvenile Offenders Accountable To Their
Victims And To The Community - Develop Competent And Productive Citizens
- In Sum Balanced and Restorative Justice.
5Goals of Adult Justice
- Community Safety
- Deterrence of future crime, often through prison
- Rehabilitation of the criminal is a secondary
consideration
6Who is Eligible for Juvenile Court?
- Some states have minimum ages 6, 8, or 10
- The majority of states have no minimum age
- Even in these states, there may be a minimum age
to be placed in secure detention - West Virginia 10 for boys, 12 for girls
- More severe punishment for older juveniles.
7Who is Eligible for Juvenile Court?
- All states have a maximum age after which the
juvenile court must release its jurisdiction. - 33 states Up to Age 20
- A Few States Up to Age 24
8Who is Eligible for Adult Prosecution?
- In 38 states, age cutoff is 18
- In 16 states, age cutoff is 17
- In a few states, it is 15
- This means that when a person turns this age, he
or she is automatically prosecuted in adult
court. - However, younger people can be prosecuted in
adult court.
9Who is Eligible for Adult Prosecution?
- 23 states, no minimum age IF the crime is
sufficiently severe - In other states, age ranges from 10 to 15.
- We will discuss later how these younger offenders
can be prosecuted as adults.
10When are Young People Committing Crimes
- Most Adults who commit crimes do so around 1000
p.m. - Most children or juveniles who commit crimes do
so between 300 and 400 p.m. on school days - This is the hour right after school.
11What Type of Crimes Are Young People Committing?
- 24 Crimes against persons
- 17 Simple Battery
- 39 Property Crimes
- 12 Illegal Drugs
- 25 Crimes Against Public Order
- Disorderly Conduct
- Obstruction of Law Enforcement
12How Juvenile Courts Handle Offenders
- Doctrine of Parens Patriae, in which Court is
In Loco Parentis for child whose parents cannot
control. - Again, idea has been to treat and rehabilitate.
- Punishment secondary consideration
13How Juvenile Courts Handle Offenders
- Probation
- Graduated sanctions
- Community Service
- Suspension of Drivers License
- Restitution
- Mandatory Counseling
- Short-Term Detention
- Group Homes
14CLAYTON COUNTY JUVENILE JUSTICE COLLABORATIVE
Judge Teske Addressing the Collaborative
15IMPACT OF CAMPUS POLICE
- School Discipline Becomes Criminal Matter
- Youth are Stigmatized with Juvenile Records
- Zero Tolerance/Zero Evidence
- Courts/Probation Overburdened
16SCHOOL OFFENSE PROTOCOL AGREEMENT
- Focused Acts Affray, DPS, DC, Obstruction
- First Offense/Warning
- Second Offense/Referral to Workshop
- Third Offense/Complaint Filed
School Offense Agreement Signed by all Police
Chiefs, School Superintendent, Juvenile Judges,
DFCS Director, and other partners on July 8, 2004
17COLLABORATIVE OUTCOME
90.2 Reduction in Complaints Filed on Focused
Acts
18IMPACT OF COLLABORATIVE-BASED INITIATIVES ON
RECIDIVISM
Reduced caseloads increases the amount of
supervision of high risk probationers resulting
in reduction in re-offense rates
19COMPARATIVE DETENTION RATES (2002-04)
Detention Reduced By Approximately 44 Since
Implementing JDAI Collaborative Programming
20How Juvenile Courts Handle Offenders
- Short-Term Detention
- May be pre-adjudicatory or post-adjudicatory
- Georgia Limited to felony or where child has
failed graduated sanctions.
21Graduated Sanctions Defined by NCJFCJ
- A set of dispositional options arrayed along a
continuum. - Includes three components
- Programmatic
- Structured decision making
- Management information component
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23Components
24Risk/Needs Assessments
- The key attributes of objective classification
and risk assessment instruments are - They employ an objective scoring process.
- They use items that can be easily and reliably
measured, meaning that the results are consistent
both across staff and over time as they relate to
individual staff members. - They are statistically associated with future
criminal behavior, so that the system can
accurately identify offenders with different risk
levels.
25Programmatic Component
- Immediate sanctions within the community for
first-time, non-violent offenders. - Intermediate sanctions with the community for
more serious offenders. - Secure care programs for most serious offenders.
- Aftercare programs that provide high levels of
social control and treatment services.
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27Suggested Program Components Intake
- Case handling mechanisms
- intake hearings/conferences alternative
diversion such as teen court, neighborhood
accountability boards, or mediation programs. - 2. Immediate sanctions
- restitution, community service educational
programs (e.g., shoplifters, substance abuse
education) victim impact panels or
victim-offender mediation. - Intervention for high-risk/needs youth
- Divert but need supervision and treatment.
- Specialized services for diverted youth with SA ,
ED, or MH problems.
28Suggested Programmatic ComponentsDetention
- One or more community-based programs designed
specifically as alternatives to secure detention
such as Home Detention (with or without
electronic monitoring), - Day/Evening Reporting Center, or Community
Service work crews. - One or more residential placement resources such
as shelter care.
29Suggested Program Components Disposition
- 1. A range of supervision/control options,
primarily community-based,organized into four or
five levels of increasing restrictiveness. These
levels should include - probation, with differential levels of
supervision based on risk - intensive probation with specialized caseloads,
or tracking program, or - advocate program, or day treatment/day reporting
program - group homes, or treatment foster care, or
wrap-around services or short term, intensive
residential program (e.g., wilderness program)
and - access to residential treatment facilities for
mental health, substance abuse, or severe
behavioral problems
30Disposition Component Continued
- 2. One or more of the above community-based
programs should be designed specifically as an
alternative to secure correctional placement. - 3. Two or more of the above community-based
programs should be designed specifically for a
special needs population such as females, drug
offenders, gang-involved youth, or sex offenders - 4. Youth at all levels o f supervision and
control should have access to a wide range of
services (e.g., GED, alternative schools),
vocational training, life and social skills
training, and family-oriented interventions. - 5. One or more programs should be a product of
inter-agency collaboration in terms of funding,
administration, and/or operation
31Suggested Immediate Sanctions
- Early interventions targeting non-chronic
offenders - Curfews
- Restitution/Community Service Programs
- Mandated groups (shoplifters, SA)
- Family Group Conferences
- Victim Impact Panels
- Victim-Offender Mediation
- Mentoring
- Teen Court
32Suggested Intermediate Sanctions
- For juveniles who continue to offend following
immediate interventions, youth who have committed
more serious felony offenses, and some violent
offenders who need supervision, structure, and
monitoring but not necessarily institutionalizatio
n. - Intensive Supervision
- Day Treatment
- House Arrest/Electronic Monitoring
- Treatment Programs (MST, IFI, etc).
33How Juvenile Courts Handle Offenders
- Long-term Detention
- Commitment to Juvenile Corrections Division
- Designated Felon 1 to 5 years in secure
juvenile detention - Available for very severe crimes
- Kidnapping, arson, aggravated assault by child at
least 13 - Bringing weapon to school
- Serious drug offenses
34How Juvenile Courts Handle Offenders
- Other Juvenile Court Powers
- Power of Contempt to make parents and guardians
comply. - Mandated family counseling or drug treatment
35How Adult Criminal Courts Handle Young Offenders
- Waiver Available in All States.
- 45 States discretionary with judge based on
childs record, severity of offense, and need to
protect community - In some states, mandatory based on type of crime
36How Adult Criminal Courts Handle Young Offenders
- Exclusion or Automatic Jurisdiction in Adult
Court - Mississippi While age for adult prosecution is
18, all felonies committed by 17 year olds are
prosecuted in adult court. - Georgia Seven deadly sins, is committed by
child at least 13, are prosecuted in adult court.
37Competence
- Formal Competence
- Decisional Capability
- Developmental Immaturity
- Tom Grisso, Juveniles Competence To Stand Trial.
38Sentencing of Young Offenders in Adult Court
- Adult Crime Adult Time.
- Differences in burglary for juvenile and adult
sentence, for example - Blended Sentencing
- Virginia Adult Court could order juvenile
sentence, adult sentence, or suspend adult
sentence if juvenile sentence is successfully
completed.
39Sentencing of Young Offenders in Adult Court
- Where are they kept?
- Georgia Kept in juvenile facility until age 17,
when they are transferred to an adult facility
designed for younger offenders
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41Problems with Prosecuting Children As Adults
42Normal Sexual Development
- In the first year of life
- Most children discover the pleasure of genital-
self stimulation - From two to six years of age
- Children may begin to engage in sexual play with
peers. Penile erection, by rubbing in female
preschoolers, sexual exploration games, touching
and rubbing of ones genitals, exhibitionism,
voyeurism, use of dirty language and flirtatious
behaviors have been described in normal children
2-6 years of age.
43Normal Sexual Development
- Middle Childhood
- Sexual interest during the middle childhood
years waxes and wanes with the degree of sexual
stimulation and sexually sensitizing experiences
44Growth of Healthy Sexuality
- Intimacy learned through interaction with peers
- Learning personal roles in and out of ones
family - Changing ideas as a result of puberty
- Sexual feelings find an appropriate place in
ones life - Learning societal rules
- Learning about reproduction
45What Is Sexual Abuse?
- A sexual offense involves the use of greater
age, force, prestige, intelligence or other
source of power to coerce another person into a
sexual act to which they might not otherwise
consent (Breer, 1987 )
46What Is A Sexual Offense ?
- The offender uses his/her greater power to
exploit his/her victims - Criteria
- Age
- Force
- Power
- Consent
- Place
47What Is A Sexual Offender ?
- A part of the sexual gratification obtained by
the sexual perpetrator arises from controlling,
dominating, and/or humiliating the sexual
partner. - (Breer, 1987 )
48Offending vs Experimentation
- Greater than 3 year age difference
- Sexual involvement with pre-pubertal child
- Difference in status and sophistication
- between the sexual partners
49Offending vs Experimentation
- Exploitation and control are features of
offending and not experimentation. - Force clearly identifies an offender.
- Sexuality with focus of control, domination,
and /or humiliation is not a characteristic of
experimentation -
50Guidelines for Assessing Sexual Behavior
- What are the power positions of the participants
? - Is force or intimidation involved ?
- Is ritual or sadistic abuse involved ?
- Was secrecy involved ?
- How developmentally appropriate are the
- sexual acts ?
- Sgroi
(1988)
51Places to Go, Things to See
- Visit www.tomrawlings.com
- This presentation and paper online
- www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org
- LOTS of good information on juvenile justice.
- www.ncjfcj.org
- The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court
Judges