The Juvenile Court System

568 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Five periods of juvenile justice history

The Juvenile Court System

The Juvenile Court system was a system set up to deal with minors who find themselves in

trouble. In trouble with their parents, or the law. This system has its benefits and its

flaws.

The first juvenile court in the United States was established in 1899, in Illinois.

This set a trend that would grow across the entire United States { Forer, 198 }.

In 1974 The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act was put into effect. It had

many regulations to follow, such as, making prevention of juvenile crime a national

priority. It also assisted state, local, individual, and private organizations to have more

sensible, less costly, and more preductive systems. It also prevents juvenile halls from

turning into nurseries for crime. Separation of minors and adults in the facilities is also

part of the act. States who do not corporate with the standards of the act do not receive

funding from the government, the states who do follow will receive government aid

{ Hyde, 42 }.

The three areas that juvenile courts deal with are criminal acts of minors, minors

neglected or mistreated by parents, or minors in need of supervision in order to stay out of

trouble. A minor can be brought to a juvenile court for other charges that are not

criminal. Such as running away, disobedience, mischief, annoying behavior, or a claim for

dependency {Forer, 114 }. The juvenile courts do not handle any civil matters. The

courts have their flaws in dealing with minors.

There are no set standards for the rights of an accused minor. Lately the laws

dealing with this have become better. But may rights are not being given. The rights that

have been noted as being violated are as follow...

... middle of paper ...

...ntion

halls and other facilities. They are just getting tougher day by day. The court system has

to work on rehabilitating the youth of America that ends up in trouble with the law. The

people of the nation want to " fix " the children to become better people. The courts

desperately need to look at what goes on inside the detention homes. They have to make

sure the minors are getting better and are doing OK. If our nation set up this juvenile

court system to save kids from a life full of crime they need to start to look at how the

system is being run now. We have to stop violating their rights because we can, and get

away with it. They have rights to and are entitled to them all. The system is a good

system to have, but some problems need to be worked out, for it to run to the benefit of

the minor, which is why it was put into place to begin with.

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Teen Courts

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the fasting growing juvenile treatment and interventions programs are known as teen courts. Teen courts serve as an alternative juvenile justice, to young offenders. Non-violent, and mostly first time offenders are sentenced by their peers’ in teen courts. Teen courts also serve as juvenile justice diversion programs. Teen courts vary from state to state, and sometimes within the same state. With this program, all parties of the judicial setting are juveniles with the exception of the judge. Each teen court, is designed specifically to meet the needs of the community it serves. Teen courts were created to re-educate offenders throughout the judicial process, create a program with sanctions that will allow the youth not to have a juvenile record, and to also instil a sense of responsibility.

    Read More

  • Samuel Winship Case Study

    574 Words  | 2 Pages

    A 12 year old stole money from a lady’s wallet that was stored in a locker at the time it was taken. Samuel Winship, the defendant was charged with an act of delinquency. If Samuel was charged as an adult the crime would have be larceny. A New York Family court judge convicted Samuel on a preponderance of evidence, which at the time was all that was necessary according to New York State Statute. At the time of the trial a juvenile in the state of New York was at least seven years old, but younger than 16. Samuel was 12, which by law made him a juvenile that could be charged with an act of delinquency.

    Read More

  • No Matter How Loud I Shout Summary

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    Within the last five years, violent offenses by children have increased 68 percent, crimes such as: murder, rape, assault, and robbery. Honestly, with these figures, it is not surprising at all that the Juveniles Courts focus less on the children in danger, and focus more on dangerous children. This in fact is most likely the underlying reasoning behind juveniles being tried as adults by imposing harsher and stiffer sentences. However, these policies fail to recognize the developmental differences between young people and

    Read More

  • No Matter How Loud I Shout

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    This quote by Edward Humes sums it up the best, “The fundamental question Juvenile Court was designed to ask - What's the best way to deal with this individual kid? - is often lost in the process, replaced by a point system that opens the door, or locks it, depending on the qualities of the crime, not the child.” (No Matter How Loud I shout, 1996, p. 325). The courts need to focus on what is best for the child and finding punishment that fits the child not the crime.

    Read More

  • Juvenile Court: Dealing with Underage Defendants

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    Juvenile court is a special court that deals with under age defendants that are charged with crimes, who are neglected, or out of their parent’s control. The average age of the Defendants are younger than 18, but juvenile court doesn’t have jurisdiction in cases in which a minor is charged as an adult. The procedure of juvenile court is to involve parents or social workers and probation officers in order to achieve positive results and prevent minors from future crimes. However, serious crimes and repeated offenses can result in the juvenile offender being sentenced to a prison, with a transfer to a state prison when they reach adulthood. According to the film “Prison States”, Christel Tribble’s was a 15-year-old from Kentucky who was diagnosed

    Read More

  • Comparison of Juvenile Court in Texas and North Carolina

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Juvenile Justice System in the State of Texas celebrated its 100 Birthday in 1999. Many people believe that the Juvenile Justice system is equal to the adult system and that juveniles are punished as adults are but that is not always the truth. The Texas Juvenile System is made up of a mixture of the Criminal Law and the Civil Law. It is governed by The Juvenile Justice Code which is called the Title 3 of Texas Family Code. The only similarities that are shared with the Adult system are that it also refers to the Texas Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedures for rules. The steps of The Court Procedures are: If a child is arrested, they are detained in a child facility, a child is not bonded out but most go before a judge. Once before the judge, it is decided if a petition will be filed depending upon the severity of the offense. The child can then make his or her pleading if the child wishes to plead not guilty a jury child can be requested. Even if there is a jury trial, only the judge can determine the punishment. The judge is also limited to the punishment that he or she can sentence because of the Juvenile Code’s Progressive Sanction Levels. This is the method which the Juvenile system uses to rank crimes.

    Read More

  • California Youth Authority

    1402 Words  | 3 Pages

    As of now, CYA uses large, remote, high-security facilities. They may be called "schools," but with about 400 kids in each one, they are more like warehouses, storing wards until they are ready for release. For decades, experts and officials have dismissed this model as incapable of meeting the juvenile justice system’s goal of rehabilitating youth.

    Read More

  • Juvenile Justice

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although putting juveniles into institutions, for many juvenile offenders occurred in the first decades of the 1900s, extensive use of probation for juveniles existed as well. As it does today, probation gave a middle ground nature for judges connecting release and placement in an institution. By 1927, trial programs for juvenile offenders existed in approximately every state. In the 1940s and 1950s, reformers attempted to improve the conditions found in most juvenile institutions. Alternatives to institutions emerged, such as forestry and probation camps. These camps provided a prearranged setting for male juvenile offenders, while emphasizing learning and occupational skills. Though, the efficiency of these options as alternatives to incarceration was dubious since they were not obtainable to the worst offenders. Yet, these changes marked the start of formal, community-based instruction that would turn out to be more extensive in following decades.

    Read More

  • History Of Juvenile Courts

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    The rehabilitation model and parens patriae failed to prevent delinquency, and so the courts began to shift their methods to suit the times. The Supreme Court handed down a series of decisions in the 1960s and 1970s providing due process rights to juveniles. Some of the rights involved included right to counsel, a right to confront witnesses, and a notice of charges. Congress also took action during this time period, passing the JJDP Act in 1974. This law granted funding to juvenile justice programs, and enforced deinstitutionalization of status offenders and non-offenders, mandating that delinquents not be held with adult

    Read More

  • Mental Health Probation Essay

    2041 Words  | 5 Pages

    with issues for the juveniles and their families. There is a team of people in the court system who

    Read More

  • A Look at the Conflicts of the Juvinile Court System in “No Matter How Loud I Shout” by Edward Humes

    1392 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book “No Matter How Loud I Shout” written by Edward Humes, looks at numerous major conflicts within the juvenile court system. There is a need for the juvenile system to rehabilitate the children away from their lives of crime, but it also needs to protect the public from the most violent and dangerous of its juveniles, causing one primary conflict. Further conflict arises with how the court is able to administer proper treatment or punishment and the rights of the child too due process. The final key issue is between those that call for a complete overhaul of the system, and the others who think it should just be taken apart. On both sides there is strong reasoning that supports each of their views, causing a lot of debate about the juvenile court system.

    Read More

  • Juvenile Justice

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today's society juveniles are being tried in adult courts, given the death penalty, and sent to prison. Should fourteen-year olds accused of murder or rape automatically be tried as adults? Should six-teen year olds and seven-teen year olds tried in adult courts be forced to serve time in adult prisons, where they are more likely to be sexually assaulted and to become repeat offenders. How much discretion should a judge have in deciding the fate of a juvenile accused of a crime - serious, violent, or otherwise? The juvenile crime rate that was so alarming a few years ago has begun to fall - juvenile felony arrest rates in California have declined by more than forty percent in the last twenty years. While California's juvenile population rose by a half a million since the middle and late 1970's, juveniles made up less than fifth-teen percent of California's felony arrests in 1998, compared to thirty percent in 1978; according to the Justice Policy Institute. The juvenile arrests have dropped back, even as the population of kids between ages of ten and eight-teen has continued to grow, and the number of kids confined in the California Youth Authority (CYA) has fallen. With all the progress our society has made in cutting back in juvenile crimes there is still a very serious problem. But if locking kids up is the best way to address it, how do we explain a drop in crime when there are more teens in California and fewer in custody? First we must look at the economy around us. With so many job opportunities available more and more teenagers find honest ways to keep busy and make money. Our generation has a brighter future than the generation a decade ago. Next we look at successful crime prevention efforts: after-school programs, mentoring, teen outreach programs, truancy abatement, anti-gang programs, family resource centers. There is evidence that these programs are beginning to pay off. Sending more, and younger teens through the adult court system has been a trend across the country in reaction to crimes, such as school shootings and violent rapes. Yet evidence shows that treating youth as adults does not reduce crime. In Florida, where probability wise more kids are tried as adults then in any other state, studies found that youth sent through the adult court system are twice as likely to commit more crimes when they're release...

    Read More

  • Minors Being Tried As Adults

    2489 Words  | 5 Pages

    As minors commit violent crimes without being held accountable, they can grow up to be real criminals and they can be very dangerous. Without a solid foundation of what is right and wrong, these minors will grow up believing that their actions are the norm. For this reason, minors need to be held accountable. They need to be taught that they cannot get away with their crimes. In 2007, courts with juvenile jurisdiction handled an estimated 1.7 million delinquency cases. Delinquency cases include vandalism, shoplifting, robbery, and murder. These are just some of the crimes minors can commit. This was up by forty-four percent from 1985. If a minor grows up believing that crime is acceptable, they will repeat the pattern. Without interrupting the pattern and making them accountable, these minors will always have a twisted sense of right and wrong. A sense of what is right and wrong is important and can be learned at any age. Minors learn very young, what...

    Read More

  • WAIVER TO ADULT COURTS IMPACT FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    The focus of the juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate juvenile offenders, rather than to imprison and punish like the systems adult counterpart. According to Caldwell (1961) the juvenile justice system is based on the principle that youth are developmentally and fundamentally different from adults. This has lead to the development of a separate justice system for juveniles that was initially designed to assist troubled juveniles providing them with protection, treatment, and guidance. 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 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. This waiver allows adult criminal court to have the power to exercise jurisdiction over juveniles and handle the juvenile’s case as an adult’s case would be tried. According to Flesch (2004) a juvenile is both tried and if convicted of the crime the juvenile will be sentenced as an adult when his or her case is waived from the juvenile court. Waiver to adult court initially was viewe...

    Read More

  • Should Juveniles be Tried as Adults

    1492 Words  | 3 Pages

    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…).

    Read More

More about The Juvenile Court System

Open Document