Courts and Criminal Justice in America CHAPTER Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Juvenile Courts 5

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Introduction The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act defines a juvenile as a person who has not reached 18 years of age  Some states will treat 15, 16 and 17- year-olds as adults The juvenile justice system emerged in response to concerns about treating juveniles as adults

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Development of Care for Children Chancery Courts  Created in the 15 th century to address cases that could not be decided in other common-law courts  Applied principles of equity rather than law Issued decisions based on fairness  Frequently heard cases of minor children e.g. would exercise jurisdiction over infant heirs who lost their parents

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Development of Care for Children  One of the original guiding principles of chancery courts was parens patriae Allowed the Crown to replace natural family relations when a child’s welfare was at risk Suggested that government can, and should, intervene in family affairs when the need arises Still serves as the core principle of the juvenile justice system, e.g. Brittany Spears and Kim Delaney

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Creation of American Juvenile Justice The Child Savers ( )  Groups who sought to improve the living conditions of poor urban children  Functions included providing shelter and education

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Creation of American Juvenile Justice  Charles Loring Brace and the Children’s Aid Society Felt that poor and vagrant children should be placed with farm families Some evidence children basically became laborers, however, there were some success stories

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Creation of American Juvenile Justice The Refuge Movement  The New York House of Refuge (1825) became the first juvenile reformatory The concept caught on and similar institutions emerged The children who lived in these facilities worked, learned trades, and received basic education Conditions were poor and discipline harsh, but these Houses were significant to the development of juvenile justice

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Creation of American Juvenile Justice The Juvenile Court  The Illinois Juvenile Court Act of 1889 established the first court to deal with delinquent children under the age of 16  By 1925, 46 states, three U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia had juvenile courts

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Creation of American Juvenile Justice  In the early years they were focused on providing individualized decisions in the best interests of the children  Relied on parens patriae

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Creation of American Juvenile Justice  Legal Protections Rather than being protected by the 5 th Amendment, children were frequently encouraged to plead guilty Standard of proof was a “preponderance of evidence” versus proof beyond a reasonable doubt, which made it easier to hold juveniles accountable

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Creation of American Juvenile Justice  Beginning in the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a number of important cases that dealt with juveniles legal rights. Some examples: Kent v. United States In re Gault Breed v. Jones Thompson v. Oklahoma and Stanford v Kentucky Roper v. Simmons

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Creation of American Juvenile Justice Insert Figure 5-1: Timeline of Supreme Court Decisions Dealing with Juveniles

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Juvenile Courts Today: Priorities, Organization & Process Juvenile Court Priorities  Some states follow a “Balanced and Restorative Justice” approach Emphasizes public safety, individual accountability and offenders services  Others follow the “Standard Juvenile Court Act” Emphasizes care, guidance and control of the youth that will “conduce to his welfare and the best interest of the state”

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Juvenile Courts Today: Priorities, Organization & Process  Others follow the Legislative Guide for Drafting Family and Juvenile Courts, which list four purposes of juvenile courts: Provide care, protection and wholesome mental and physical development Offer a program of supervision, care and rehabilitation Remove a child from a home for their welfare or in the interests of public safety Assure all parties their constitutional and other legal rights

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Juvenile Courts Today: Priorities, Organization & Process Organization  Stand-Alone Courts Found in relatively few states Have their own administration, staff, judges and other personnel  Family Court Have jurisdiction over several types of cases including divorce, child custody and child support

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Juvenile Courts Today: Priorities, Organization & Process The process has four main steps:  Intake  Detention  Judicial decision  Judicial disposition

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Juvenile Courts Today: Priorities, Organization & Process  Intake A decision is made whether a case should enter the juvenile justice system Most cases are referred by police officers Some are also referred by parents, victims, school officials, and probation officers

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Juvenile Courts Today: Priorities, Organization & Process If referred to the intake department, a case will either be petitioned or non- petitioned Request action or authorization of action from the court, or handled informally (i.e.placement or probation)

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Juvenile Courts Today: Priorities, Organization & Process  Detention Usually occurs when a juvenile is arrested for a fairly serious offense A hearing must be held within 24 hours of detention Approximately 20% of juvenile cases result in detention of the juvenile

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Juvenile Courts Today: Priorities, Organization & Process  Adjudication Assuming the case is not waived to adult court, an adjudicatory hearing is held Evidence and testimony are heard

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Juvenile Courts Today: Priorities, Organization & Process  There are no juries, a judge determines if the juvenile should be adjudicated  The hearing can result in a dismissal of the petition, a “continuation in contemplation of dismissal”, or adjudication  Cases that result in adjudication requires staff to prepare a disposition plan

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Juvenile Courts Today: Priorities, Organization & Process  Judicial Disposition The juvenile justice system has at its core a set of graduated sanctions If the juvenile is an adjudicated delinquent, a treatment program will be assigned based on his or her “needs and deeds” Can include fines, restitution, community service or participation in drug treatment More serious offenders are placed in secure juvenile detention facilities

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Treating Juveniles as Adults Legislative Exclusion  Also called statutory exclusion  Refers to the fact that a statute excludes a juvenile from being tried as a juvenile Requires certain juveniles to be treated as adults e.g. Mississippi excludes all felonies committed by 17-year-olds

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Treating Juveniles as Adults Juvenile waiver refers to trying juveniles as adults (“waiving” them to adult court)  Discretionary waivers gives judges discretion to waive jurisdiction in individual cases involving minors  Presumptive waivers require the juveniles to bear the burden of proof in the waiver hearing  Mandatory waivers involve cases in which the juvenile meet certain age, offense or other criteria

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall Treating Juveniles as Adults Concurrent Jurisdiction  Means that certain cases can be tried in both juvenile and adult court  The Prosecutor determines where the case should be tried Increased Sanctioning  Juvenile sentences are more punitive than ever before

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Changing Landscape of Juvenile Justice For example, many states allow offense- based sentencing Can include the use of so-called blended sentences that require probation along with time in an adult correctional facility Some states also allow extended jurisdiction that allows juvenile court judge to extend a sentence beyond the age of 18

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Changing Landscape of Juvenile Justice More Accountability  An increase in the courts handling of cases (formal) signals a movement toward increased accountability  States are also changing laws affecting how juvenile cases are screened e.g. In 1977 Washington state ceased to rely on probation officers for screening and left filing decisions totally in the hands of prosecutors

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Changing Landscape of Juvenile Justice Less Privacy  Juvenile court records have historically been “off limits”  Some states have begun to relax restrictions on access to juvenile records

Copyright © 2015 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Courts and Criminal Justice in America, 2nd Edition Siegel | Schmalleger | Worrall The Changing Landscape of Juvenile Justice Court records are also disclosed more readily (e.g. Central record repositories, data systems, sex offender registries) Some states have increased the period of time before juvenile records are expunged