Juvenile Court System Essay

When a child is committed of a crime and must undergo punishment through the juvenile system they are being given the punishment with the thought of rehabilitation. As a child the goal for the state is to help them get back on their feet and stop the criminal behavior that is accruing in order to ensure that when they are an adult they will not still be committing these crimes. As soon as a minor has been committed of a crime and arrested for this crime the police submit an application for petition to Probation, probation them looks over the circumstances such as family life, history of crimes, and psychological state before deciding how the case should be handled. (Inside the Juvenile Justice System: 2014) If the case is thought to

      Juveniles should receive capitol punishment, they should be imprisoned with adults so that maybe, just maybe we can get to the ones that still have a chance and make a difference for them as well as us. In San Antonio, Texas, in 1995 Victoria Dalton a thirteen year old girl, is convicted of smothering two small children left in her care. When interrogated and asked why and how could she do such a thing, her reply was, “They just wouldn’t shut up!”. Apparently Victoria suffers from migraine headaches, and the two children had pushed her pass her limit. Later during her arrainement, Victoria stated to the judge that she was only thirteen and wondered why she couldn’t go home yet (Edmonds).

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.

One of the most debatable topics in today’s justice system is whether or not juveniles should receive waivers to adult court. There are three methods that are used to transfer a juvenile to adult court. Juvenile waiver, statutory exclusion, and Concurrent Jurisdiction are the three different methods used to transfer a juvenile to adult court. Statutory exclusion is when the juvenile is transferred immediately to the adult court. Concurrent Jurisdiction is when the juvenile may be tried as an adult and a juvenile at once. Throughout all three methods juvenile waiver is the most common one that is used throughout juvenile courts and used in mostly all states. The only states that do not provide judicial waivers are Nebraska, New York, and New Mexico. When a judge transfers a juvenile to adult court, he or she is denying the protections that the juveniles receive. The judge makes the decision of whether or not the juvenile is tried as an adult. Double Jeapordy laws protect the juvenile from being tried in juvenile court and then adult court because of the fact that a juvenile would be tried twice. Most times 17 or 18 year olds are the youngest age limits that can be waived to adult court, but in some states ages low as 13 or 14 can be waived. It depends on the crime that a juvenile commits on whether or not he or she is transferred to adult court. Once the juvenile is tried as an adult, he or she will be affect in the community for a lifetime versus having his or her records

In the United States, though different states have different transfer laws regarding ways a juvenile could be transferred to criminal court, most states used one of these transfer laws; once adult/always adult laws, reverse waiver laws and blended sentencing laws. Under once adult/always adult laws, a juvenile who have been tried as adults will be prosecuted in criminal court for any subsequent offenses. Reverse waiver laws, on the other hand, makes it possible for juvenile who is being prosecuted as an adult in criminal court to appeal their case to be transferred to juvenile court. A compromise between those who wanted rehabilitation and those who wanted punishment for the juvenile offender, blended sentencing laws appear to be the law that could determine the appropriate Court of Jurisdiction for juveniles.

In the adult justice system the guilty person would face a trial by a jury. The jury would be given the evidence of the crime, decide if the person is guilty or not, then judge would make the final running. As well at the end of an adult trial a punishment would be handed out such as imprisonment sentence. Where in a juvenile case the judge would decide what form of rehabilitation the child would benefit most from and what would best likely help.

Today, the juvenile system primary goals are crime reduction and rehabilitation. The juvenile officials must assess whether youthful offenders are likely to commit crimes in the future and whether they can benefit from interventions. If these kids cannot benefit, then they will most like end up a delinquent. In most states delinquency is defined as the commission of a criminal act by a child who was under the age of 18 at that time (Virginia Rules). Most states allow youth to remain under the supervision of the juvenile court until the age of 21, but this depends on the type of crime that was committed. There has been many times where a juvenile case was transferred to an adult criminal court. This would have to be done thru a process called a waiver. A waiver is when a judge waives the protections that the juvenile court provides (Larry J. Siegel). Cases that

In addition, think about how they will be affected if tried as an adult and convicted. Let us remember, the United States has the Juvenile Justice System, which is solely for juvenile delinquents. This is supposed to protect them from receiving longer sentences, and harsh punishments, which is the opposite of adult courts. Also, the Juvenile Justice System is supposed to help rehabilitate the juvenile. Luckily, for juveniles, the “court had recognized that even homicide does not warrant a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole if the offender is less than 18 years old at the time of the crime” (Holt p.1395). However, in “Nevada, Mississippi, and Utah, lawmakers now leave it up to the juvenile courts to decide whether to transfer a juvenile to adult court” (Brown p. 21). Unfortunately, juveniles sent to adult prison suffer physically, mentally, and emotionally. With that

This paper takes a brief look at the history and evolution of the juvenile justice system in the United States. In recent years there has been an increase of juvenile cases being transferred into the adult court system. This paper will also look at that process and the consequences of that trend.

Some jurisdictions require the child to be over a certain age and charged with a felony, while others permit waiver if the child is over a certain age regardless of offense. Still yet, others have no conditions. Juveniles can be tried in all stated in one of three ways: 1. Concurrent Jurisdiction: the prosecutor has the discretion of filing charge offenses in either juvenile or criminal court. 2. Excluded offenses: the legislature excludes from juvenile court jurisdiction certain offenses that are either very minor, such as traffic or fishing violations, or very serious, such as murder or rape. 3. Judicial waiver: the juvenile court waives its jurisdiction and transfers the case to criminal court. Barry Feld, Juvenile Law Scholar, suggests that waivers to adult court be mandatory for serious crimes. Those espousing the crime control model believe that the overriding purpose is protection of the public, deterrence or violent juvenile behavior, and the incarceration of serious youthful offenders in the adult criminal justice system. The rehabilitative justice model view this as an attack on the juvenile justice system, but crime control advocates consider such steps a necessary response to a rising juvenile violence rate. Life in Adult Prison The Southwest Multi County Corrections Center, a two-story adult jail is the largest maximum-security program for juveniles under federal authority. The BOP pays

Although based on the adult criminal justice system, the juvenile justice process works differently. Juveniles can end up in court by way of arrest, truancy or for curfew violations or running away. A youth may also be referred to the juvenile court system by school officials or a parent or guardian for being continuously disobedient. The juvenile justice process involves several different steps including intake, detention, adjudication, disposition and aftercare following release from a juvenile correctional facility. In this paper we will breakdown the numerous steps involved in the juvenile justice process as well as compared some

Imagine sitting in a courtroom, hoping the the judge will not give a harsh sentence. Unfortunately, that’s the case for many juveniles, some as young as 13! A juvenile is subject to a more severe sentence with the limited sentencing available. It is estimated that 250,000 youth are prosecuted as adults, each year. This number should change, as juveniles are not adults, both mentally and physically. Juveniles need an environment surrounded with guiding adults, education and the resources to help them. A juvenile is not an adult, and should not be tried as one.

Several studies conducted to determine impacts of transfers of cases from juvenile courts to adult criminal courts for trial

Factors such as type of offense, the age of the juvenile offender, and criminal history take