Overview of Juvenile Justice

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Overview of Juvenile Justice
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Questions for Thought

• At what age do you begin to understand that there
  are consequences for your actions?
• At what age did you learn that stealing is wrong?
• At what age did you learn that killing someone is
  wrong?
• On a number scale, determine what rights you
  should be given at what age and justify your
  beliefs.

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Terms

• Homicide the killing of one person of another
  either intentionally or unintentionally.
  Homicides include accidents and murder.
• Murder the killing of someone with malice of
  forethought. It could be done while committing
  another crime.

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Terms, continued

• 1st Degree Murder the killing of a person with
  malice of forethought (planning) the crime was
  planned. It was done deliberately and is illegal.
• 2nd Degree Murder a killing done during a crime
  deemed very dangerous to a human life. The crime
  was most likely not committed with intention of
  killing.

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Terms, continued

• Voluntary Manslaughter the killing of someone
  intentionally but without planning. (ex crime of
  passion)
• Involuntary Manslaughter killing someone
  unlawfully but without planning. It was committed
  without an intention to kill and without a
  conscious disregard for human life.

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Quickwrite

• At what age would you consider someone a juvenile
  vs. an adult? If you committed a serious crime,
  do you think it would be fair to be punished the
  same way an adult who committed the same crime
  would be? Why or why not? What types of
  punishments should adults receive vs juveniles?

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• Using your knowledge of the preceding terms,
  determine how the following crimes should be
  classified and what the suspects deserve as their
  sentence.

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10 year old shoots neo-Nazi father

• On May 1, 2011 a ten year old boy shot his father
  in the head while he was sleeping on the couch.
• Jeffery Hall was a member and director for the
  National Socialist Movement and reportedly abused
  his son and wife.
• The ten year old was afraid that his dad was
  cheating on his mom and he would be expected to
  choose whom to live with.

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You be the Judge

• What crime should the now 13 year old boy be
  charged with and what should his sentence be?
  Explain your rationale for your decision.

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Decision of the US Justice System

• On January 14, 2013, a California judge ruled
  that the then ten year old boy committed
  second-degree murder-and he knew what he was
  doing was wrong.
• He is spending the next 10 years in a juvenile
  facility.
• He could remain in custody until his 23rd
  birthday, though he could be freed sooner or have
  a number of other living arrangements as
  determined by the judge.

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16 year old drunk driver kills 4

• Ethan Couch, a 16-year-old who drove while drunk
  killed four people and injured two others.
• He sideswiped a broken down car and killed the
  four people who had stopped to help, and two
  other teens were thrown from the bed of his
  pickup truck (one is no longer able to move or
  talk due to a brain injury).
• Couch had three times the legal limit of alcohol
  in his blood (thats the limit for adultsminors
  shouldnt have any alcohol in their blood), and
  he also had Valium and THC in his system.

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You be the Judge

• What crime should Ethan Couch be charged with and
  what sentence does he deserve? Explain your
  rationale for your decision.

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Decision of the US Justice System

• The Texas Judge believed the defenses claim that
  the young man suffered from affluenza.
• The term affluenza came into public use with a
  1997 PBS special and subsequent book of that
  name. In that original context, the term referred
  to increasing materialism and keeping up with
  the Joneses.
• In poor mans terms he is too rich and has been
  given too much so one cannot comprehend their
  actions.
• The defense argued that Couch shouldnt be held
  as responsible because his parents were so
  permissive in their style of child rearing that
  Couch did not experience socially appropriate
  consequences for his socially inappropriate
  behavior.
• Rather than the 20 years of jail time the
  prosecution asked for, Texas Judge Jean Boyd gave
  Couch absolutely no jail time and instead
  sentenced him to 10 years of probation and time
  in a long term treatment facility.
• That facility costs 450,000 per year, paid for
  by Couchs wealthy parents. Among other
  amenities, it offers equine therapy and organic
  food choices.

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Shooting of Officer PompeiJune 9, 1995

• Summary of Crime
• Two armed male suspects (16 and 17) robbed a
  grocery store.
• Officer Pompei (30) was off duty and intervened
  as one of the suspects began pistol whipping a
  box boy with special needs.
• The officer announced that he was off duty police
  and both suspects shot Officer Pompei in the
  torso, and as he turned, once in the back.
  Pompei called 911 from a payphone outside and was
  pronounced dead two hours later.

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• The suspects were able to get away because an 18
  year old brother to one of the suspects drove the
  getaway car.
• Suspects had been injured and went to the
  hospital where they were admitted and put into a
  room together.
• Suspects were taped and their confessions and
  plans to escape to Mexico were later used as
  evidence during the trial.

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You be the Judge

• What crime should the following suspects be
  charged with and what punishment should they
  receive? Explain your rationale for your
  decision.
• 18 year old getaway driver
• 17 year old shooting suspect
• 16 year old shooting suspect

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Decision of the US Justice System

• 18 year old driver of getaway car was up for
  death penalty but pled guilty and acted as a
  witness in exchange for 26 years to life.
• 16 and 17 year old suspects sentenced to life
  without the possibility of parole for first
  degree murder.

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Quickwrite 2

• Revisit your first quickwrite and explain if you
  agree or disagree with your original response.
  What evidence persuaded you and why? If your
  opinion hasnt changed, explain why and what
  evidence helped to reinforce your original belief.

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Now read the following scenarios and fill in the
boxes.
  Actual situation Crime or conviction Punishment or sentencing
A troubled 17-year-old girl has slowly poisoned her parents each night at dinner. After three months, she came home to find them dead on the kitchen floor. The coroners report indicated that cyanide poisoning caused their deaths.
Three 16-year-olds were hanging out at the park drinking whiskey. One boy started shoving his friend. Soon the shoving escalated into punching. One boy tripped, and his head hit a sharp-edged rock. The boy died before help arrived.    
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Suspicious that his girlfriend was cheating, a 16-year-old boy went to her house and found her in bed with his brother. Impulsively, he grabbed the nearest lamp and hit his brother on the head. His brother died two days later.    
A 13-year-old boy broke into an auto parts business to steal hubcaps. The 17-year-old security guard picked up his bosss gun and fired two warning shots at the thief. The second shot hit the 13-year-old and killed him on the spot.    
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Overview of the Juvenile Justice System

• relatively new systemthe first juvenile court
  established,1899
• created to address criminal and problem behaviors
  among children between the ages of (approx.) 10
  to 18

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Basis of the JJS

• Childhood was created in the early 19th century
  and stages of childhood, adolescence defined
  shortly afterward
• Developmentally distinguished adolescents from
  adults emotionally, psychologically, and
  physically
• Supported 2 notions (1) culpability (2) ability
  to change

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Juvenile v. Adult Justice Systems
Juvenile System Adult System
Goal(s) Rehabilitation Punishment
Style Non-Adversarial, Confidential Adversarial, Public
Terminology Medical Model Legal/Constitutional
Role of Family Very Significant Little to No Significance
Process Adjudication/Delinquent Trial/Guilty or Innocent
Sentencing Indeterminate-Broad Determinate-Focused
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Are Adolescents Different from Adults?

• Increasingly, research demonstrates that
  adolescents are not little adults
• Adolescence is a period of intense physical,
  emotional, and cognitive development
• Forced to make choices under the worst conditions
• Exposed to highly risky situations
• Often overestimate their understanding of a
  situation while underestimating the consequences
  of their actions
• Further complicated when youths live in
  disadvantaged, high risk environments
• Perhaps most important for this discussion is the
  fact that adolescents process emotionally
  charged information from a more reactive,
  gut-level place than adults

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