American Juvenile Justice System Essay

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American Juvenile Justice System

I.History and Background

a.Before the time of juvenile courts, people thought that children under the age of seven were not capable of forming criminal intent. This took the youngest out of the criminal justice system. People also thought that kids ages seven to fourteen were incapable of knowing what the rules or laws are. Children over the age of fourteen were thought to have the ability to process criminal intent. Children that did commit a crime and were over fourteen were tried in court and could be sentenced to any punishment that an adult could have. The child could be sentenced to jail, and would be in it with adults.

b.Parens patriae, a latin phrase that means “parent of the nation”, refers to the power the state has to intervene against an abusive or negligent parent, guardian, or caretaker. It can also act as the parent of any child who is in need of protection. Juvenile delinquency is committing or participating in …show more content…

"property crime by juveniles increased 11 percent nationally between 1983 and 1992, [and] violent crime increased by 57 percent" (Patton). Almost 50% of the crimes locally are in school, 21% in high school, 19% in middle school, and 4% in elementary.

III.Criticism (Problems with the system)

a.Some problems with the system would be how some states have the power to lower the age that a juvenile can be tried in an adult court. Another example would be how juveniles imprisoned with adults did not have the opportunity to bail charges by the grand jury. Another example is when the delinquent gets out of jail/juvy, there is a 90% chance they will go back to what they were doing before. That’s why people want to take custody of these children and give them a better future than what the streets have done over time.

IV.Proposed

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