Rita Kramer’s Juvenile Justice Is Delinquent

The community and the courts began to view juveniles as capable of molding and rehabilitating, so thus began a modification in the court system and sentencing of juvenile offenders. In 1899, the first US court system existed in Cook County, Illinois which opened up doors to numerous juvenile court systems. “Children were no longer to be dealt with as criminals, but rather through the parens patriae power of the state were to be treated as wards of the state, not fully responsible for their conduct and capable of being rehabilitated (Davis, 1976, p. 3).” Parens patriae: the notion that grants the state power and authority to protect juvenile offenders who are unable to care for themselves is important because the court moved from viewing juveniles as criminals to juveniles as delinquents, a minor between the age of 10 and 17 who violated the law (Juvenile Delinquents). Juveniles violates laws while adults commit crimes. Instead of imprisonment of the juvenile delinquent the court assessed why the juvenile violated the law and tried to treat the child’s problem by sentencing them to an intervention program rather than placing them in prison. The judge, “the father figure,” stood dedicated to protecting the juvenile rather than punishing (Davis, 1976, p. 3) making sure to evaluate the best interest of the

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 the United States, many states have similar juvenile systems that stem from the juvenile system that were established in 1899. Before the establishment of these formal juvenile system structures, there was a widespread dissatisfaction of how to deal with young criminals. The states wanted a more effective and humane way of dealing with these young people, but also wanted to isolate them from adult criminals. For example, Pennsylvania, divided law-breakers into two categories infants and adults. The category or infancy covered those fourteen and under. They believe that children under the age of seven were incapable of committing a crime. Now, those between seven and fourteen fell in both the infant and adult categories. If the prosecutor could present

has a juvenile court system, many states are now looking at the alternative of rehabilitation for

Due to the evolution of increasingly dangerous and serious violent crimes committed by today’s youths, law makers have been put in the position according to Schwartz, to "give our communities a false sense of public protection" (CQ Researcher, 1994). This is done through the creation of legislation aimed at punishing juveniles for the crimes they commit. However, it is clear that trying juveniles as adults does not address the crime rate or why violent crimes are committed, because it is simply a quick-fix policy that only surfaces around election years, implying that "it’s political" (Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, 1996). Secondly, the majority of crimes ...

When a juvenile commits a crime, the court where the juvenile will be in becomes a factor. Some juveniles...

The Juvenile Justice system, since its conception over a century ago, has been one at conflict with itself. Originally conceived as a fatherly entity intervening into the lives of the troubled urban youths, it has since been transformed into a rigid and adversarial arena restrained by the demands of personal liberty and due process. The nature of a juvenile's experience within the juvenile justice system has come almost full circle from being treated as an adult, then as an unaccountable child, now almost as an adult once more.

A Critical Look in Current Events Facing Juveniles in the Juvenile justice system The juvenile justice system was founded on the belief that juveniles should be rehabilitated from committing crime. It was the belief of the government that juveniles do not posses the cognitive reasoning of adults, therefore should not be punished as adults. The juvenile court was formed in 1899 with the belief that the government needs to play a more active role in the rehabilitation of juveniles. This belief held strong up until the 1980's when President Ronald Reagan took office. The beliefs in juvenile rehabilitation were fading and an alternative was rapidly being put into motion, juvenile incarceration.

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.

Vito, Gennaro F., and Clifford E. Simonsen. Juvenile justice today. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004. Print.