Chapter 15
Juvenile Justice System
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
 Critic argue that the juvenile justice system is outdated and should
be focused on punishment.
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
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
The History of Juvenile Justice (cont.)
 The Child-Saving Movement
 Created programs for indigent youths
 New York House of Refuge
 Boston House of Reformation
 Children’s Aid Society
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
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
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
 Creation of Family Courts
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
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 child’s social and
personal conditions
 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
Police Processing of the Juvenile Offender (cont.)
 Legal Rights
 Same Fourth Amendment rights as adults
 Afforded greater Fifth Amendment protection
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
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
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
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

Is child a danger to the public

Likelihood juvenile will return to court for adjudication
The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)
 Reforming Detention
 Remove status offenders from lockups
 Detention of youths in adult jails
 OJJDP Grants
The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)
 Bail
 Federal courts have not ruled on juvenile’s constitutional right to
bail
 Relatively few states use monetary bail
 Release of child to parent viewed as an acceptable substitute
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
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 child’s age and nature of the offense
 Some states allow waivers only in felony cases
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 Fifth Amendment.
The Juvenile Court Process (cont.)
 Waiver of jurisdiction (cont.)
 Concurrent jurisdiction
 Excluded offenses
 Judicial waiver
 Reverse Waiver
 Effect of the Waiver
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
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
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
The Juvenile Correctional Process
 Probation
 Most common sentence for juveniles
 Place under supervision in the community
 General conditions of supervision, control and rehabilitative
conditions
The Juvenile Correctional Process (cont.)
 Deinstitutionalization
 Large institutions too costly
 Small residential facilities
 Public support for community-based programs still exists in some
areas
The Juvenile Correctional Process (cont.)
 Aftercare
 Help youths make the transition from residential or institutional
settings
 Parole
 Procedural protections in probation and parole revocations
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