Chapter 15 The Juvenile Justice System

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Chapter 15The Juvenile Justice System
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The Juvenile Justice System

• When first created was viewed as quasi-social
  welfare agency
• Parens patriae system acts as a surrogate
  parent in the interests of the child
• The interest of the child are the primary concern
  and can be protected by many policies, not all
  criminal justice
• Critic argue that the juvenile justice system is
  outdated and should be focused on punishment.

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The History of Juvenile Justice

• Separating juveniles from adults can be traced
  back to two developments in English custom and
  law
• The development of poor laws 1535 English
  passed statutes called poor laws that mandated
  appointment of overseers to place neglected
  children with families
• The chancery court concerned primarily with
  protecting property rights and welfare of more
  affluent minor children who could not care for
  themselves

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The History of Juvenile Justice (cont.)

• Care of children in early America
• Youth who committed serious crime were treated as
  adults
• Almshouses, poorhouses, workhouses
• Child savers began developing organizations to
  help alleviate the burdens of the poor

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The History of Juvenile Justice (cont.)

• The child-saving movement
• Created programs for indigent youths
• New York House of Refuge
• Boston House of Reformation
• Childrens Aid Society

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The History of Juvenile Justice (cont.)

• 1899 First comprehensive juvenile court created
  in Illinois
• Best interest of child
• Paternalistic rather than adversarial
• Probation department to monitor youths in the
  community
• Reform schools

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Juvenile Justice Today

• Has jurisdiction over two categories of offenders
• Delinquents violate the law, commit an offense
  in violation of penal code
• Status offenders truants and habitually
  disobedient
• PINS Persons in Need of Supervision
• CHINS Children in Need of Supervision

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Status Offenses
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Volume and Age of Status Offenses
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Juvenile Justice Today (cont.)

• States have set different maximum ages below
  which children fall under the jurisdiction of the
  juvenile court
• Some states exclude certain classes of offenders
  or offenses
• Those that commit serious violent offenses may be
  automatically excluded, waivered to adult
  courts
• Creation of family courts

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The Juvenile Justice System
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Police Processing of the Juvenile Offender

• According to UCR, police arrest more than 1.5
  million juveniles under age 18 each year
• Most police departments have separate juvenile
  detectives
• Most police may arrest for status offenses

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Police Processing of the Juvenile Offender
(cont.)

• Use of discretion
• Decision to release or detain and refer to
  juvenile court
• Decision based on offense, police attitudes, and
  childs social and personal conditions
• Factors significant to police decision making
• Type and seriousness of childs offense
• Ability of parents to be of assistance in
  disciplining child
• Childs past contacts with police
• Degree of cooperation
• Denial of offense

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Police Processing of the Juvenile Offender (cont.)

• Legal rights
• Same 4th Amendment rights as adults
• Afforded greater 5th Amendment protection

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The Juvenile Court Process

• Juvenile court plays major role in controlling
  juvenile behavior and delivering social services
  to children
• Juvenile cases increased between 1960 1995
• Since 1995 number has declined reflecting the
  overall decline in crime rate

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The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)

• The intake process
• Court officers screen child to determine if needs
  to be handled formally or whether the case can be
  settled without formal intervention
• Opportunity to place child in a community program
• More than half of referrals to juvenile courts
  never go beyond this stage

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Police Processing of the Juvenile Offender (cont.)

• The detention process
• Juvenile Justice Act of 1974
• Use of detention increased 41 between 1985 and
  2000.
• Majority of those detained are white
• Disproportionate number of African-Americans
  detained before trial

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The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)

• Detention process (cont.)
• Detention hearing required in most states
• Right to counsel
• Procedural due process rights
• Criteria to support a decision to detain
• Need to protect the child
• Decide if child a danger to the public
• Determine likelihood juvenile will return to
  court for adjudication

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The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)

• Reforming detention
• Remove status offenders from lockups
• Detention of youths in adult jails
• OJJDP Grants

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The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)

• Bail
• Federal courts have not ruled on juveniles
  constitutional right to bail
• Relatively few states use monetary bail
• Release of child to parent or guardian viewed as
  an acceptable substitute

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The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)

• Plea bargaining
• Exists for the same reasons as in adult courts
• When child makes admission, courts require the
  following procedural safeguards
• Child knows of the right to a trial
• Plea or admission is voluntary
• Child understands the charges and consequences

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The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)

• Waiver of jurisdiction
• Most jurisdictions provide by statute a waiver of
  offenders to the criminal courts
• Factors considered are the childs age and nature
  of the offense
• Some states allow waivers only in felony cases

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The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)

• Waiver of jurisdiction (cont.)
• Kent v. United States (1966) Court held that at
  the waiver proceeding juveniles must be afforded
  minimum requirements of due process of law,
  including right to counsel.
• Breed v. Jones (1975) Court held that
  prosecution of juveniles as adults in California
  Superior Court violated the double jeopardy
  clause of 5th Amendment.

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The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)

• Waiver of jurisdiction (cont.)
• Concurrent jurisdiction
• Excluded offenses
• Judicial waiver
• Reverse Waiver
• Effect of the waiver

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The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)

• The trial
• Initial appearance similar to arraignment in
  adult court
• Fact-finding hearing
• In re Gault (1967)
• Notice of the charges
• Right to counsel
• Right to confront and cross-examine witnesses
• Privilege against self-incrimination
• Right to transcript of trial record

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The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)

• Disposition and treatment
• Juvenile court judge imposes a sentence on the
  juvenile offender based on offense, prior record,
  and family background.
• Bifurcated hearing process
• Typical juvenile court dispositions
• Suspended judgment
• Probation
• Placement in a community treatment program
• Commitment to the state agency responsible for
  juvenile institutional care
• Work camp

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The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)

• Juvenile sentencing reform
• Push for harsher sentences
• Mandatory and determinate incarceration sentences
• Effort to remove status offenders from juvenile
  justice system
• Effort to standardize dispositions in juvenile
  courts
• Juvenile drug courts

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The Juvenile Correctional Process

• Probation
• Most common sentence for juveniles
• Place under supervision in the community
• General conditions of supervision, control and
  rehabilitative conditions

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The Juvenile Correctional Process (cont.)

• Deinstitutionalization
• Large institutions too costly
• Small residential facilities
• Public support for community-based programs still
  exists in some areas

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The Juvenile Correctional Process (cont.)

• Aftercare
• Help youths make the transition from residential
  or institutional settings
• Parole
• Procedural protections in probation and parole
  revocations

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The Juvenile Correctional Process (cont.)

• Preventing delinquency
• Designed to intervene before delinquent acts
• In past was responsibility of treatment oriented
  agencies
• Today community treatment involves combination of
  juvenile justice and treatment agencies
• Fast Track Program
• CAR/CASASTART Program