Courtroom Observation Experience Involved Watching Four Trials

The juvenile justice system is a foundation in society that is granted certain powers and responsibilities. It faces several different tasks, among the most important is maintaining order and preserving constitutional rights. When a juvenile is arrested and charged with committing a crime there are many different factors that will come in to play during the course of his arrest, trial, conviction, sentencing, and rehabilitation process. This paper examines the Juvenile Justice System’s court process in the State of New Jersey and the State of California.

With the escalation of murders and rapes committed by minors as seen in recent years the people are looking for the right answer. Public concern over the effectiveness of the juvenile courts when dealing with these offenders has brought about change in the justice system. (Stolba, 2001). The courts now, are quicker to transfer a juveniles’ case to adult court than when the juvenile system was first formed. There stands a conflict of interests within the two court systems. Juvenile courts are to protect the rights of youths determined incapable of adult decisions. The primary concern is that the youth be rehabilitated and not become a repeat offender. Thus, protecting the child from incarceration with adult criminals and any possible future victims. The concerns of the adult court is to make sure the convicted offender pays for their crime and that the victim gets justice. Rehabilitation is not a primary concer of the adult justice system.

My understanding of the court system has changed almost weekly from the beginning of my semester. I do understand things that I never thought I would’ve have known or even cared about in the least. The book Courtroom 302 has brought an even different side of thinking into this. The book goes into detail about the criminal court in Chicago. He watches all of the actions and different trials that come and go in the courtroom 302. He presents many different cases throughout the book which gives more insight then just a single case.

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

The court reconvened, and the crown called the next person, Tim. B. Tim, a young white male, was already out on bail pending his charge of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. The Crown stated that this was a reverse-onus because he was charged with failure to appear three times. The duty counsel informed that Tim voluntarily turned himself in earlier in the morning when he found out about the charges, and that his father who owned property over $250,000 is willing to be his surety. The crown said she will consent to the release with a $1000 surety and conditions of non-contact with the victim and to reside with or residence approved by the surety. The duty counsel did not object and the Judge accepted the terms.

The Court’s reasoning was that the probation officer is “a trusted guardian figure” in the juvenile’s life and a request of Michael’s probation officer “indicated that the minor intended to assert his Fifth Amendment privilege (Oyez.org, n.d.).”

The juvenile offender also pled guilty in a court of law, regarding his possession of a

Firstly, through my observations of the different courts it was evident the administration of justice is done in due time, and the process is not expedited without an outstanding reason as it can lead to misguided verdict. Furthermore, the criminal trial process in our society focuses on equality and promotes this principle by entitling an accused of even the most heinous crimes to civil liberties and processes as not to compromise the criminal trial process. A fair trial is an intrinsic right of all members of society making it fundamental to our being, and is ergo ensured to us all under s.11 of the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms.

According to Caldwell (1961) the juvenile justice system is based on the principle that youth are developmentally and fundamentally different from adults. According to Mack (1909) the focus of the juvenile justice system has shifted from “was the crime committed” to “why did the child commit the crime”, “how can we help the child”. 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 Griffin (2008) in some cases juveniles may be required to be “transferred” to adult court. In this paper I am going to discuss the three primary mechanisms of waiver to adult court: judicial waiver

I went to go check in the juror assembly room to check for trials, they only knew of one later on in the criminal court. I went to Judge Samuels courtroom because that is where the trial was going to occur later in the day. When I arrived Judge Samuels was doing arraignments which, I found out were very common in the criminal courts. She would give the defendants who had DUI’s options between time in county jail or community service. One of the cases that stood out was a defendant who needed psych sessions. The defendant had just been given a trial and was found guilty so, they had to sentence her. The defendant was convicted of three counts one of them being assault with a deadly weapon, which happened to be a car.

I was still filled with anticipation and was quite surprised at the differences between my first and second experience. I was formally dressed and did not really blend in with anyone else sitting in the courtroom. The attorneys seemed to come and go as they pleased, with no deference or respect for the proceedings in session.

As a result, the applicant then spent a conviction of 61 days in custody. The learned trial judge took into account MKL antecedents history. The learned trial judge did not take into consideration the prior conviction of 61 days in custody and left it to be taken into account in the subsequent charges.

Our current juvenile court system began in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The ultimate goal of having a separate court system for juveniles is to rehabilitate young offenders rather than punish them. The court also hopes to deter young offenders from preforming further delinquent behavior. Unlike the adult court system, juveniles do not have the right to a public trial by jury. Instead, they undergo an adjudication hearing where the judge rules whether the juvenile is a delinquent. Since this separation, several studies have been conducted to weigh the benefits and costs; such as effectiveness, efficiency, and cost of resources, of having two court systems. Is the United States juvenile court appropriate or should it be abolished? Abolishing the juvenile court system would mean juveniles and adults would both undergo the same criminal justice system. Rothstein states in his research that juvenile courts are a cost-effective way to handle less serious offenses by children (as cited in Acker, Hendrix, and Hogan, and Kordzek, 2001, p. 200). On the other hand, Robert Dawson (1990) argues that there are not enough legal differences between juvenile and adult courts for there to be a need for a separation, concluding that overlap between both systems is so great that having a juvenile court is unnecessary. Supporting this argument, Barry Feld (1997) calls the two systems “duplicative” (p 69).

Trials being short and mainly directed towards foreigners, many of the more serious crimes are not being noticed. Currently trials are only lasting about 10

Until one of the officers, explain to me that the prosecutor cannot shake hands to the defendants because it's looks like money laundering, and the prosecutor is a germaphobe. Criminal court ran smoothly. Most of the people accept the charges and pay their fine. Then. I notice something so shocking, I notice a man who works at one of the food courts on campus. He was charged with aggravated DWI and was sentenced to a hardship license and a victim impact class. It’s always awkward to see someone you know at court, and sometimes I try to avoid that person. There was also one more bizarre moment in court. The woman who had a butterfly bookbag was part of a civil case. I think his landlord is suing her and she is also counter suing him. They both went to the backroom with the two mediators to see if they could work out the issue without having trial. Fifteen minutes later, they all walked out and a man put up a sign from the sitting area. The officer told the man to put the sign down or he will be put out. I thought that was really strange, nobody did not understand what was written on the sign, most of us was just shocked about what just