Evolution of Juvenile Justice System: Past to Present

1. Chapter 15 Juvenile Justice

2. The History of Juvenile Justice • Juvenile justice • Originally based on the parens patriae philosophy • The modern practice of legally separating adult and juvenile offenders • Traces back to the development of Elizabethan-era poor laws and the creation of the English chancery court • Poor laws and chancery courts were brought from England to colonial America

3. The History of Juvenile Justice • Almshouses, Poorhouses, and Workhouses • Local jurisdictions developed these to accommodate dependent youths • The child savers • Influenced state and local governments to create independent correctional institutions to house minors

4. The History of Juvenile Justice • Reform schools • The first of opened in: • Westboro, MA in 1848 • Rochester, NY in 1849 • Charles Lorring Brace (1853) • New York philanthropist who helped develop the Children’s Aid Society • Placed neglected and delinquent youths in private homes in rural communities

5. The History of Juvenile Justice • The child savers • Lobbied for an independent, state-supported juvenile court • Their efforts prompted the development of the first comprehensive juvenile court in Illinois in 1899

6. The History of Juvenile Justice • The “best interests of the child” • The main concern • Not strict adherence to legal doctrine, constitutional rights, or due process of law • Youngsters found delinquent in juvenile court could spend years in a state training school

7. The History of Juvenile Justice • Juvenile Justice 1960-1980 • The Supreme Court radically altered the juvenile justice system when it issued a series of decisions that established the right of juveniles to receive due process of law • Status offenders • Juvenile Justice 1980-2000 • Public concern • Shift to crime control and punishment

8. Thinking Point • Juvenile Justice • Do you advocate the shift to a crime control model that occurred in the juvenile justice system after the 1980s? Why or why not? • How does this positively or negatively impact youth?

9. The History of Juvenile Justice • Juvenile Justice Today • The juvenile justice system has jurisdiction over delinquents and status offenders • Maximum ages • Exclusion of certain types of offenders • More than 450 juvenile drug courts • The juvenile justice system is responsible for processing and treating almost 2 million cases of youthful misbehavior annually

10. Similarities and Differences Between Juvenile and adult Justice Systems

11. Chart of Juvenile Justice Case Flow

12. Police Processing of the Juvenile Offender • Police officers arrest about 1.3 million juveniles each year • Most states do not have specific statutory provisions distinguishing the arrest process for children from that for adults • Police also engage in delinquency prevention efforts

13. Police Processing of the Juvenile Offender • Use of discretion is based on: • Type and seriousness of the child’s offense • Ability of the parents to be of assistance in disciplining the child • Child’s past contacts with police • Degree of cooperation obtained from the child and parents and their demeanor, attitude, and personal characteristics • Whether the child denies the allegations in the petition and insists on a court hearing

14. Police Processing of the Juvenile Offender • Legal Rights of Juveniles in Custody • Same Fourth Amendment rights as adults • Generally afforded more protection than adults • Legal Rights in the School Setting • School resource officers • Searching for drugs as per New Jersey v. T.L.O.

15. The Juvenile Court Process • Juvenile found to have engaged in delinquent or incorrigible behavior: • Police agencies are charged with the decision to release or to detain the child and refer him to juvenile court • Once in custody, a juvenile has the same right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures as an adult does

16. The Juvenile Court Process • The Intake Process • Review and screening • The Detention Process • There has been an ongoing effort to reform detention • Juvenile Justice Act of 1974 • Legal issues • The most important reform has been the successful effort to remove status offenders from lockups containing delinquents

17. The Juvenile Court Process • Bail • Parents considered an acceptable substitute to money bail • Plea Bargaining • Before trial, prosecutors in the juvenile courts may attempt to negotiate a settlement to the case

18. The Juvenile Court Process • A waiver • A practice in which the juvenile court waives its jurisdiction over a juvenile and transfer the case to adult criminal court for trial • In some states, a waiver hearing is held to determine jurisdiction • Waiver of Jurisdiction • Direct file waiver • Excluded offense waiver • Judicial waiver • Reverse waiver • Blended sentencing laws

19. The Juvenile Court Process • Waiver does not seem to influence crime or recidivism rates • One reason may be that juveniles whose cases are waived to criminal court are sentenced more leniently than they would have been in juvenile court • Although some youths transferred to adult court never spend a day in an adult prison, some become enmeshed in the daily life of an adult correctional facility

20. The Juvenile Court Process • Risks faced by juveniles in adult court include: • Sexual assault • Suicide • Damage to communities and public safety

21. Thinking Point • Juveniles and the Adult Court • Given the potentially negative impacts of transfer to adult court of juveniles, do you advocate transfer for most juveniles? • In which circumstances would this be acceptable?

22. The Juvenile Court Process • Should Youths be Transferred to Adult Court? • Is waiver effective? • Death penalty and life in prison

23. Thinking Point • Death Penalty and Juveniles • Would you advocate the use of the death penalty for a juvenile under any circumstances? • What would these circumstances be? Defend your position.

24. The Juvenile Court Process • Adjudication • Initial appearance • Similar to arraignment in the adult system • Trial • Court hears evidence on the allegations • Significance of In re Gault • Disposition and Treatment • Suspended judgment • Probation • Placement in a community treatment program • Commitment

25. The Juvenile Court Process • There has been an ongoing effort for almost 30 years to deinstitutionalize status offenders (DSO) • Juvenile Sentencing Reform • Least intrusive measures • Remove status offenders • Standardize juvenile dispositions

26. The Juvenile Correctional Process • Probation • Most common formal sentence • Special rules • Alternative sanctions • Intensive Supervision • Decarceration • Control • Community ties/reintegration • Mixed results

27. The Juvenile Correctional Process • Institutionalization • State statutes vary when determining the length of the child’s commitment • The number of youths held in some form of incarceration has declined between 2000 and today • Deinstitutionalization • Status offenders

28. The Juvenile Correctional Process • Aftercare is the final stage of the formal juvenile justice process • Supervision and support • Intensive Aftercare Program (IAP) • Preparing youths for responsibility • Facilitating youth-community interaction • Working with the offender and the community • Developing new resources/support • Monitoring

29. The Juvenile Correctional Process • Preventing Delinquency • Intervening in young people’s lives before they engage in delinquency in the first place • YMCA, YWCA, Boys and Girls Club

30. Thinking Point • From your perspective: • How important is a preventive approach (as opposed to a reactionary approach) in the juvenile justice system? • Why is this important? • Should it be more or less important in the juvenile system than the adult system? Defend your position.

31. The Future of Juvenile Justice • Currently at a crossroads • Ongoing effort to modify the juvenile justice system • Public’s fear of predatory juvenile offenders • Reaction to high profile cases