Juvenile Justice System

Juvenile crime is simply criminal activity committed by a juvenile. Juvenile status offenses are acts that would be illegal for juvenile, such as truancy, running away from home curfew violations, smoking, drinking, and swearing. The trend of trying juveniles as adults applies only to juvenile criminal conduct, not juvenile status offenses” (Brink, 2004, p.1860). This quote helps to differentiate juvenile criminal conduct and the offenses. Criminal conduct would be punished the same if they were an adult, while the status offenses only apply to the illegal acts of the actor, in this case being a minor.

What Kramer is saying is that a teenager that is a criminal would not be tried or treated as an adult because of the teenagers young age. Rita states that the present juvenile court system actually encourages the young delinquent to continue criminal behavior by showing them that they can get away with a crime. The juvenile court system is very similar to the New York Family Court system which was made to protect children who are usually under the age of 18 who kept on running into trouble with law. It was designed to function as helping parents of juveniles. By protecting those kids who were younger from the age of 18 juveniles always used the system as a game and said, “ I ain’t sixteen yet,” they cant do anything to me.

Law enforcement officials and judicial officers differ in the way that they investigate and process cases involving juveniles and adults. Juveniles who are suspected of criminal activity are processed by the juvenile justice system and their cases are held in a separate court from adult criminal cases. Juvenile cases are processed under the basic assumption that young offenders can be rehabilitated and reformed. Recidivism is acceptable more with the youthful offender and society often allows them more chances to improve their criminal behavior outside of the correctional institution. The Fourth Am... ... middle of paper ... ...n offer America the opportunity to take a giant step forward in our fight to control adolescent crime.

Some states have advanced different approaches that support for juvenile waiver and transfer. Juvenile transfer and waiver laws are statutes allowing young offenders to be transferred from juvenile courts to criminal courts. This means that they are prosecuted as if they are adult with the range of penalties being great. After a while different states have adjusted their waiver laws. The following are the classification of the various waiver laws that have been advanced.

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.

. juvenile delinquency. In this report I will: define juvenile delinquency, give the extent of juvenile delinquency, give some suggestions on what causes juvenile delinquency, and what is being done in various communities to deal with this growing problem. The legal term juvenile delinquent was established so that young lawbreakers could avoid the disgrace of being classified in legal records as criminals. Juvenile delinquency laws were designed to provide treatment, rather than punishment, for juvenile offenders.

Are juvenile diversion programs effective toward the recidivism rate of juvenile offenders? An important part of the criminal justice system is how to solve the issue of recidivism and how to lower crime rates in the United States. A vast majority of adult offenders start out as juvenile delinquents. Finding an effective treatment program for adolescents, or juveniles are essential to solving this issue. A juvenile offender is a person below the age of eighteen who commits a crime.

The movement was referred to as the Society for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency. The main issue that legislation and movements sought to address was the separation of delinquents from the adult offenders. In a case of an adult offender the court looks at the act committed. However, with the emergence of juvenile courts the focus is on the delinquent who is viewed as a child, and who needs to be helped. In the spirit of ensuring that trials against children were handled in a speedy and in a confidential manner, children below fourteen years were tried immediately before two magistrates (19th Century Bedford Gaol).

Two Supreme Court cases have addressed the issue of juvenile waivers and transfers, Kent v. United States and Breed v. Jones. The two cases resulted in specific requirements for transfer hearings, including a) a legitimate transfer hearing b) sufficient notice to family and defense attorney c) right to counsel d) a statement regarding reason for the transfer. However, the waiver of juveniles is often criticized by experts for various reasons. "Minors are likely to be looked upon as special persons by prosecutors, probation officers, and judges in the criminal courts. They are younger than the main population of defendants before the criminal courts…while a minor may be looked upon as a hardened criminal in the juvenile court, (s)he may be viewed as a mere innocent youngster in criminal court."

Juvenile justice is the area of criminal law appropriate to persons not mature enough in age to be considered in charge of criminal acts. In many states, the age for criminal culpability is set at 18 years. Juvenile law is principally represented by state law and most states have established a juvenile code. The American Juvenile Justice System is the essential systems used to address and manage youth were caught and sentenced law violations. The juvenile justice system intercedes in reprobate conduct through police, court and remedial inclusion, and is to a great extent