Larry J. Siegel
www.cengage.com/cj/siegel
Chapter 13
Juvenile Justice
in the Twenty-First Century
Joe Morris • Northwestern State University
Cherly Gary • North Central Texas College
Lisa Ann Zilney • Montclair State
Learning Objectives
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Describe the nature/purpose of the juvenile justice system.
Be familiar with the history/development of juvenile justice.
Discuss the child savers and their vision of juvenile justice.
Describe the efforts of the child savers to create an
independent juvenile court.
Describe the changes in juvenile justice from the 1960s to
today.
Discuss police processing of juvenile offenders.
Distinguish between the adjudication of juvenile/adult
offenders.
Discuss the problems/legal issues with the waiver decision.
Chart the juvenile trial and sentencing process.
Compare efforts to treat kids in the juvenile system with the
belief that treatment is ineffective and should be abolished.
The History of Juvenile Justice
• Development of poor laws
• The Chancery Court
Care of Children in Early America
• Youth who committed serious crimes treated as
adults
• Almshouses, poorhouses, workhouses
The Child-Saving Movement
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Programs for indigent youths
New York House of Refuge
Boston House of Reformation
Children’s Aid Society
Establishment of the Juvenile Court
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First comprehensive juvenile court Illinois 1899
Best interest of child
Paternalistic rather than adversarial
Reform schools
Legal change 1960s and 1970s
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of
1974
• Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention
Juvenile Justice Today
• Jurisdiction over:
• Delinquents
• Status offenders
• PINS – Persons in Need of Supervision
• CHINS – Children in Need of Supervision
Examples of Status Offenders
Smoke,
drink
Disobey
parents
Stubborn
and
incorrigible
Violate
curfew
Juvenile
status
offender
Participate
in sex or
immoral
conduct
Skip
school,
disobey
teachers
Have bad
companions
Run
Away
Volume of Status Offense Cases by Age
45
Truancy
Ungovernability
Runaway
Liquor
Percentage of cases
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
10
11
12
13
14
Age of ???
15
16
17
Similarities and Differences between Juvenile and
Adult Justice Systems
Similarities and Differences between Juvenile and
Adult Justice Systems
Comparison of Terms Used in Adult and Juvenile
Justice Systems
Case Flow Through the Juvenile Justice System
Police Processing of the Juvenile Offender
• Police may arrest for status offenses
• Factors significant to police decision making
• Type and seriousness of child’s offense
• Ability of parents to be of assistance in
disciplining child
• Child’s past contacts with police
• Degree of cooperation
• Denial of offense
Legal Rights
• Same 4th Amendment rights as adults
• Greater 5th Amendment protection
The Juvenile Court Process
• U.S. juvenile courts process an estimated 1.6 million
delinquency cases each year
• Juvenile case load is 4 times as large today as in
1960
Intake
• Screen child and family
• Opportunity to place child in a community program
• More than half of referrals to juvenile courts never
go beyond this stage
Police Processing of the Juvenile
• The detention process
• Juvenile Justice Act of 1974
• 70% of youths are held for non-violent charges
• Use of detention has increased significantly in
past decade
• Disproportionate number of African-Americans
detained before trial
Detention
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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
• Reforming detention
• Remove status offenders from lockups
• Detention of youths in adult jails
Bail
• Federal courts have not ruled on constitutional right
to bail
• Relatively few states use monetary bail
• Release of child to parent or guardian viewed as an
acceptable substitute
Plea Bargaining
• Exists for the same reasons as in adult courts
Waiver of Jurisdiction
• Most jurisdictions provide by statute a waiver of
offenders to the criminal courts
• Factors considered: child’s age and nature of the
offense
• Some states allow waivers only in felony cases
• Kent v. United States (1966)
• Breed v. Jones (1975)
Youths in Adult Courts
Direct file wavier
Excluded offense waiver
Judicial waiver
Reverse waiver
The Adjudication
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Initial appearance
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
Disposition and Treatment
• Sentence based on offense, prior record, and family
background
• Bifurcated hearing process
• Typical juvenile court dispositions
• Suspended judgment
• Probation
• Community treatment program
• State agency responsible for juvenile institutional
care
• Residential placement
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
Probation
• Most common sentence
• Placed under supervision in the community
• General conditions of supervision, control and
rehabilitative conditions
Deinstitutionalization
• Large institutions too costly
• Small residential facilities
• Public support for community-based programs still
exists in some areas
Aftercare
• Helps the transition from residential or institutional
settings
• Parole
• Procedural protections in probation and parole
revocations
Preventing Delinquency
• Designed to intervene before delinquent acts
• Past - treatment oriented agencies
• Today - combination of juvenile justice and treatment
agencies
• Fast Track Program
• CAR/CASASTART Program
Problems of Juvenile Justice
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System at a crossroads
Meaningful treatment?
Restructure?
Minority overrepresentation
Equal justice?