America's Juvenile Injustice System By Marsha Levick

Placing a juvenile in a detention center early in the court process increases the risk that youths will be found to be delinquent and damage their prospects for future success. A majority of the youths that are placed in these facilities pose little or no threat to the public and essentially do not need to be there. This portion of the juvenile court process is detrimental to the future and mental aspects of a youth’s life. We desperately need to change the way that we handle the juvenile court system because we are only reinforcing the delinquent behavior that these youths have been exposed to. We need to focus on the rehabilitation and prevention efforts for these youths not the punishment aspect and until then (insert a better ending).

Cyntoia Brown’s story is another sad example of male privilege and the valuing of a man’s life over a woman’s. Brown had a hard life growing up; she suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and grew up in a very abuse home. When she was a teenager she ran away from home, which ultimately led to her entering a life of prostitution. After leaving home, she met a 24-year-old man named “Cut Throat” who abused her and forced into prostitution. When she was 16 her pimp sold her to a 43-year-old man who picked her up from a Sonic parking lot and brought her back to his house. Upon entering the house, Brown noticed a gun cabinet in the man’s room. She attempted to fight off the predator’s advances, but ultimately feared for her life and pulled out a gun and shot and killed the rapist. Cyntoia was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for killing the child molester who was attempting to rape her. The prosecution stated that Cyntoia did not kill him out of self-defense, but rather as an attempt to rob him since she took his wallet after shooting him. Brown has currently been in jail for over ten years and will not be given the possibility of parole until she is 69 years old. After the initial trial people were unhappy with the sentencing which led Tennessee to change their laws and ban mandatory life sentences for juveniles without parole. Recently, Brown’s case has been brought back into the spotlight due to many A-list celebrities tweeting about the incredible injustice.

To make a little extra on her time off she would child mind for local parents in the community. In 2008 Miss George joined a Facebook group “against child abuse” and was still a member of this group while committing her crimes. Miss George has 2 teenaged daughters whose names were not released due to privacy reasons never the less an indecent photograph was found of her 14

In Outgrowing Juvenile Justice, Michael Jonas (2001) raises several important issues concerning juvenile justice policies and practices. In discussing Jamal Vick, a range of youth crime issues surfaces, including:

There are many similarities and differences between the adult and juvenile justice systems. Although juvenile crimes have increased in violence and intensity in the last decade, there is still enough difference between the two legal proceedings, and the behaviors themselves, to keep the systems separated. There is room for changes in each structure. However, we cannot treat/punish juvenile offenders the way we do adult offenders, and vice versa. This much we know. So we have to find a way to merge between the two. And, let’s face it; our juveniles are more important to us in the justice system. They are the group at they

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.

Dina always wanted to become a Nurse Practitioner and has worked very hard to achieve her goal. But, Dina’s juvenile record has prevented her from fulfilling that dream. When Dina was 12 years old, her parents divorced, and she moved with her mother and siblings from their suburban home and into Section 8 housing. She immediately took on greater responsibilities, including caring for her younger siblings, acting as an interpreter for her mother who was a Haitian immigrant, and completing the family’s public benefits applications. She even obtained her first job at age 13. Like many youth, Dina responded to the added pressure by acting out. That year, she was arrested for a fight in school. By age 15, she had been adjudicated

Jerilyn, a teenager within the ABC Primetime Video The Lost Children Behind Bars committed a variety of different minor crimes throughout her years ranging from trespassing, disorderly conduct, marijuana use, and habitual truancy (Emsnyc12, 2012). Along with these minor crimes, Jerilyn had also committed a very serious criminal offense of child molestation against her nephew, which led to her being put into the Adobe Mountain Juvenile Corrections Facility (Emsnyc12, 2012). With that being said, her criminal behavior can very much be attributed to substantial events that occurred within her life at a very young age. At six years old, Jerilyn was molested by her mother’s boyfriend and this lasted for an entire month. (Emsnyc12, 2012). Soon after this molestation occurred, various changes within Jerilyn’s life began to emerge, as one may suspect. She soon began to turn to crime as a way to deal with this terrible life event and began smoking marijuana, using alcohol, and skipping school as well as not coming home for long periods of time (Emsnyc12, 2012). Jerilyn being molested by her mother’s boyfriends had a profound impact on her life and can very much be a leading factor in her committing her own act of child molestation on her nephew, who was six at the time (Emsnyc12, 2012). From a very young age, after the molestation occurred, Jerilyn was emerged into a life of crime, with the final act of child molestation landing her in the Adobe Mountain Juvenile Corrections

Juvenile delinquency has become a controversial issue within the Criminal Justice system. In the United States, juvenile delinquency refers to disruptive and criminal behavior committed by an individual under the age of 18. In many states, a minor at the age of 16 to 17 ½ can be tried as an adult. Once the individual reaches adulthood, the disruptive and criminal behavior is recognized as a crime. However, the criminal justice system has divided juvenile delinquency into two general types of categories that has brought upon controversial issues of inequality and corruption. Yet, putting young individuals in juvenile detentions facilities seems to open the door for them to commit more crimes in the future. Therefore, under certain circumstances juveniles should be tried as an adult.

America’s juvenile justice system has been around for ages and has had problems since its creation. The courts have failed to devise a way to help juveniles and keep them from even entering the justice system. More often than not, juveniles are forgotten and never dealt with until they reach the point where they are either going to be placed within the system or receive some sort of diversion or alternative. This is where the problem exists. There needs to be more communication between the different levels of the juvenile justice system. Particularly between the officers that may arrest these juveniles, the probation officers that deal with them, and of course the judge in the court system. The juvenile court is supposed to have provided due process protections along with care, treatment, and rehabilitation for juveniles while protecting society. Yet, there is still considerable doubt as to whether the juvenile justice network can meet these goals (Cox, Allen & Hanser, 2013).

Thousands of youths have to go through the Juvenile Justice System every year. Sentencing is unfairly given to many of these youths that end up going through The Juvenile Justice System has become a school for criminals. The sentencing has become biased. Barry C. Feld is one of the nation's leading scholars of Juvenile Justice. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, his J.D. from the University of Minnesota, and his Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University where he was a Russel Sage Foundation Fellow in Law and the Social Sciences ( “Feld, Berry | University of Minnesota Law School,” n.d.). He wrote the article Justice for Juveniles. Justice for Juveniles is an article outlining various issues and solutions

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.

Research on Verdict on jury trials for Juveniles; The effects of the defendant’s age on trial outcome http://web.ebscohost.com.www.remote.uwosh.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=4&hid=14&sid=1926d952-85af-47ac-9376-f1ef23ee5f0e%40SRCSM1

Juvenile delinquency has been a problem in the United States ever since it has been able to be documented. From 100 years ago to now, the process of juvenile delinquency has changed dramatically; from the way juveniles are tried, to the way that they are released back into society, so that they do not return back to the justice system (Scott and Steinberg, 2008). Saying this, juveniles tend to

It is a common believe that adolescents require a special system thru which be processed because they are “youth who are in a transitional stage of development…young offenders that are neither innocent children nor mature adults…” (Nelson, 2012). Because juveniles are in a process of constant development sociologically, psychologically and physiologically, the juvenile court system focuses on alternative sentences and the creation of programs that will offer them rehabilitation instead of incarceration. However, in cases of extraordinary circumstances, the juvenile system shifts from looking at rehabilitation as a first choice to accountability and punishment (Read, n.d). All levels of society are collectively involved in delinquency