Rita Kramer’s “ Juvenile Justice Is Delinquent,” a very well written argument,
explains how juvenile delinquents have changed, and are getting away now with almost
everything they do without a severe punishment. Kramer writes clearly to make the reader
understand her essay. Kramer writes that the Juvenile system is very similar to New
York’s Family Court. The New York Family Court was originally sought to protect
children who were getting in trouble with the law that still considered them infants,
because of their young age. 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. If the
government then protects them and the juveniles get no punishment, that means that the
government is giving them a second chance repeating crimes.
In the 1950’s juvenile delinquents who were caught doing something illegal were not
treated like an adult, because that delinquent was “not criminally responsible... by reason
of infancy.” A hearing though would be held but in private to protect the child’s identity.
But in the 1960’s the juvenile court system changed and it gave juveniles who were called
“respondents” instead criminals, the rights to have a lawyer represent them. On top of that
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it also gives protection like the criminal court system gives adults who are responsible to
serious penalties if guilty. In paragraph six of Rita’s essay she says that the current juvenile
system has made it the defendant’s lawyers job to protect the young client from any
possibility of rehabilitation. That means that the courts now are also protecting rights of
juveniles, which makes it even more impossible for prosecuters to convict the defendant.
This then offers the child to get away with no punishment and now thinks that he/she have
the right to keep on acting in a misbehaving or unlawful way which had brought him or
This paper will analyze the different theoretical issues pertaining to the modern juvenile court, determine their origin, and suggest a course of action for resolving these issues to the best extent possible. It is important to note, however, that the juvenile justice system alone cannot ever prevent all juvenile crime, respond perfectly to every situation or treat every suspect fairly. Furthermore, an effective antidote to modern juvenile crime would necessitate far broader action, addressing underlying social structure inequalities that breed poverty and social disorganization.
Many people say that the systems first priority should be to protect the public from the juvenile criminals that are a danger to others. Once the juveniles enter the system there is however, arguments on what should be done with them. Especially for those deemed too dangerous to be released back to their parents. Some want them locked away for as long as possible without rehabilitation, thinking that it will halt their criminal actions. One way to do this they argue would be to send them into an adult court. This has been a large way to reform the juvenile system, by lowering the age limits. I believe in certain cases this is the best method for unforgiving juveniles convicted of murder, as in the case of Ronald Duncan, who got away with a much lesser sentence due to his age. However another juvenile, Geri Vance, was old enough to be sent into the adult court, which caused him t...
Today not only do we have adults committing crimes, but millions of adolescents are committing the same crimes as adults. “Statistics show more than 1.1 million youths being arrested on a daily basis, and more than 800,000 youths belonging to different gangs (Siegel &Welsh, 2014).” It is the state juvenile authorities to deal with these children and the cost is massive. So states came up with programs to put a stop to kids becoming delinquents. With doing so they hope to save money and help kids.
For many years, states have believed that the juvenile justice system came about to protect the public by providing a system that helps children who are maturing into adulthood. States understand that children who commit crimes are different from adults. They believe that children are less blameworthy, and have a greater capacity for change. To make up for these differences, states have created a separate court system for juveniles, and they have created a separate, youth based system that is different than that provided to adults.
juvenile justice” (Elrod & Ryder, 2011) is to detour juvenile crimes and not be so easy on
penalties. Juveniles are considered to be the most vulnerable to fall under peer, media, society pressure
Adolescents under the age of eighteen are too young to stand trial and are not fully aware ...
This paper will discuss the history of the juvenile justice system and how it has come to be what it is today. When a juvenile offender commits a crime and is sentenced to jail or reform school, the offender goes to a separate jail or reforming place than an adult. It hasn’t always been this way. Until the early 1800’s juveniles were tried just like everyone else. Today, that is not the case. This paper will explain the reforms that have taken place within the criminal justice system that developed the juvenile justice system.
In 1899, the nation’s first juvenile court for youth under the age of 16 was established in Chicago to provide rehabilitation rather than punishment. By 1925, following the Chicago model, all but two states had juvenile courts whose goals were to turn youth into productive citizens utilizing treatment that included warnings, probation, and training school confinement(Cox et al. 2014, p.2). Treatment lasted until the child was “cured” or turned 21. Although judges spoke with the offending children and decided upon the punishment, the lack of established rules and poor rehabilitation led to unfair treatment. In 1967 “ U.S. Supreme Court case of In re Gault held that juveniles were entitled to the same constitutional due process rights as adults, beginning a national reform in juvenile justice and the system was repaired to afford children many of the same rights that adults have in court” (Cox et al. 2014, p.4). Also, state legislatures passed laws to crack down on juvenile crime, as recently, states have attempted strike a balance in their approach to juvenile justice systems as research suggests that locking youth away in large, secure juvenile facilities is ineffective treatment towards different genders in which it doesn’t provide appropriate rehabilitation.
The Illinois Juvenile Court Act of 1899 was the first juvenile court established in the United States (Locked Up…). The juvenile court was created to handle the offenders on the basis on their rather than their crime. In the 1980’s and 90’s many states passed laws to try teens as adults (Should Juveniles…). The court system served to the minors under the age of sixteen. The courts didn’t typically support disciplinary actions. The people in charge did everything in their power to not have the victim spend time in a juvenile detention center or better yet prison. Remedial sentences were the most common types of discipline (Locked Up…).
Vito, Gennaro F., and Clifford E. Simonsen. Juvenile justice today. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004. Print.
Confidentiality in many cases focuses on providing a level of protection as well as a focus on preventing harm on to the future of individuals that are caught in the crosshairs of the justice system. However, the most important reasoning of confidentiality in the juvenile court is that it is an extension of principles shared by different levels within the courts. It focuses on helping an individual to some extent prevent any further damage especially if the case is considered to be a minor one. While breaking the law is a major offense in any capacity, there are situations in which a minor offense may have impacts beyond the justice that is the Spence by the court at that point in time. However, as the court system to create a level of judgment on the crime that was committed by a juvenile, there is a higher focus on providing individuals with a level of protection in terms of their information being put in the public arena. In many of the cases that can be seen in the public sphere, individuals that are of a certain age are usually not provided their names to public outlets. They are simply called witnesses or offenders which is a keyway of creating an implementation of confidentiality by shadowing the names and not providing that information to the public. Overall, this helps individuals become more protected from any type of future harm on depending on the offense that might have
The juvenile system was first established in the United States around 1899 when Illinois had their first court appearance including a juvenile. This then led to the Nation’s first juvenile system being created, which was for youth under the age of eighteen who have been convicted of crimes. Up until then, most youth were tried as an adult until the system was put into place. The system has different sections in which they youth is taken in such as: intake, adjudication, disposition, and post adjudicatory.
Juveniles are not mature enough or developed psychologically, and, therefore, do not consider the consequences of their actions. In the article, “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” by Thompson,
.... Sentencing juvenile delinquents are influenced by the seriousness of the crime or act committed. Therefore, the court will give a proper punishment for the delinquent acts committed.