Juvenile Delinquency: Is there a solution?

By 1997, 28 states had statutory exclusions (Juvenile "waiver" (transfer to adult court)). Offenses commonly excluded are first degree murder, or any other felony. Similar to Judicial waiver age too play an important role in determining if the juvenile offender can be tried as an adult. In this mechanism it is not the judge who decides but the prosecutor. Once the prosecutor has made the decision to charge a juvenile with an excluded offense, the case must be filed in criminal court (Statutory Exclusion, 2008).

The initial stage is intake. The intake procedure is also recognized as prosecution in the adult courts. In this stage, the court or prosecutor establishes whether to prosecute the case in juvenile court. Factors looked at this stage include; the proof of the crime, the gravity of the crime, the delinquent’s preceding unlawful and court history and the success of rehabilitation appraisals of the juvenile. Rooted in societal and legal results, the case might be discharged, taken care of off the record or an official trial may be applied for.

I think it starts from the family and how they were raised and what family members influenced them to criminal things. Not only do they learn that from family, but he or she could have picked things up like that from friends they have been around or maybe off television shows. Some juveniles are gang related and most crimes involves people losing their lives over it. Somehow, juveniles can maybe get it easier than someone that has already turned 18. Juveniles should be held until their court date or bond release just li... ... middle of paper ... ...all over the world should be tried as an adult because a crime is a crime no matter who committed and what age.

15 Mar. 2014. Feature, Michael. "Chronic Sleep Deprivation and Health Effects." WebMD.

According to Mack (1909) the focus of the juvenile justice system has shifted from “how can we help the child”, “why did the child commit the crime” to “was the crime committed”. According to Griffin (2008) in some cases juveniles may be required to be “transferred” to adult court. The prerequisites for transfer to adult court are the duty to protect the public from violent youths, serious crime, and the lack of rehabilitation chance from the juvenile court. According to Flesch (2004) many jurisdictions handle the issue of serious juvenile crime by charging juveniles as adults. Charging a juvenile as an adult is done by a method which is called waiver to adult court.

Flesch, Lisa M. “Juvenile Crime And Why Waiver Is Not The Answer.” Family Court Review 42.3 (2004):583-596. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.

Juvenile Transfers and Waivers For those juveniles deemed dangerous, or those that have committed a serious crime, a different process would follow their initial contact with the court. This involves the removal of the offender from the juvenile system, to be transferred to the adult criminal court. These offenders are adjudicated as an adult if certain factors are present. The waiver to the adult court is often a critical step in receiving a harsh sentence for juveniles. Two Supreme Court cases have addressed the issue of juvenile waivers and transfers, Kent v. United States and Breed v. Jones.

17 Feb. 2014. Hirby, J. "Causes of Juvenile Delinquency." The Law Dictionary. N.p., n.d.

Are the punishments in the juvenile detention centers creating more problems? Is the juvenile justice system addressing the needs of those juveniles participating in the system? The answer to these questions will be answered from viewing three separate documentaries on the juvenile justice system. Video 1 In the United States juveniles who committed status offenses or misdemeanor offenses are punished in a similar way to adults. For the kids that were acting out while incarcerated in a youth detention center they would be sent to solitary confinement, which often gave kids more psychological issues instead of treating

According to Caldwell (1961) the juvenile justice system is based on the principle that youth are developmentally and fundamentally different from adults. According to Mack (1909) the focus of the juvenile justice system has shifted from “was the crime committed” to “why did the child commit the crime”, “how can we help the child”. When performing as it is designed and up to the initial intentions, the juvenile court balances rehabilitation (treatment) of the offender with suitable sanctions when necessary such as incarceration. According to Griffin (2008) in some cases juveniles may be required to be “transferred” to adult court. In this paper I am going to discuss the three primary mechanisms of waiver to adult court: judicial waiver laws, statutory exclusion laws, and prosecutorial discretion or concurrent jurisdiction laws.