Essay on Restorative Action for Juvenile Justice Centers

There are many similarities and differences in the juvenile and adult justice systems. When a juvenile is arrested and charged with a crime there are many factors that play a role out during the course of an arrest, trail, conviction and sentencing. Years ago all criminals were tried as adults and there was no distinction made between adult and juvenile. Currently, the law has come to realize the need to categorize the two as they are two different populations with very different physical and psychological needs needs. According to Bartol, “juveniles, like adults, also may be provided with intermediate sanctions, which are less restrictive than residential placement but more restrictive than the standard probation under which the juvenile remains in his or her own home with conditions attached” (Bartol, 2011) very similar to adult offenders.

The laws surrounding juvenile criminal cases are much different than those concerning adults. When a child is arrested in New Jersey or California they can either reprimanded and released or they can be brought to a juvenile detention facility (State of New Jersey Judiciary). If they are brought to a facility they usually have to be processed and arraigned in a juvenile court within 48 hours unless there is a holiday or weekend. As soon as the child is arrested the police or probation officer must call the juvenile's parents (Neubauer, 448). Both the parents and the child in custody have the right to have an attorney present at any and all of the child's questioning after arrest. The child's first court date, also called a detention hearing, is one of

In America on any give day, approximately ten thousand juveniles are housed in adult prisons and jails. Approximately two hundred thousand juveniles enter the adult criminal justice system each year and most have non-violent crimes. Juveniles in the adult jails lose out on the educational and psychological benefits offered by juvenile detention facilities and

What do you believe each writer’s stronger topic to be? The topic the writers choose is very interesting and it is a current issue in our criminal justice system. The writer have chooses a very interesting topic would be able to find valuable sources and evidences that show how effective a restorative justice program would be for juveniles. Also, the writer would be able to find arguments that are against or for restorative justice program for first-time juveniles’ offenders.

“The juvenile justice system was first created in the late 1800s to reform United States policies on how to handle youth offenders. Since that time, a number of reforms - aimed at both protecting the "due process of law" rights of youth, and creating an aversion toward jail among the young - have made the juvenile justice system more comparable to the adult system, which is a shift from the United States’ original intent (2008,Lawyer Shop.com).” The

The age requirement for a youth to enter inside a secure facility is between the age of 5 and 21. A youth that is above the age of 16 and does not have superior court chargers and committed to the state the youth can be housed at a juvenile detention to they are 21 years of age. If the youth is a superior court youth and has turned 17 the youth will be transfer to the county jail where they committed their offense. Or they will be transferred to the Department of Corrections if they have been given their time. In some cases they judge may allow the youth to stay inside a juvenile detention while the youth is on trial even if the youth has turned 17. It must be a court order.

The American juvenile justice system had developed over the past century with a number of variables that makes it different from the adult criminal justice process. Juvenile justice advocates supports the differences on the youthful offenders. Juvenile crime policy over the course of the twentieth century talks about transferring the law’s conceptions of young offenders. Starting from the nineteenth century, many of the youths were tried and punished as adults. However, treatment of juveniles in the United States started to change. Reformers created a way where juveniles can be housed in special facilities. Their mission was to protect juvenile offenders by separating them from adults. Juvenile justice system focuses primarily on rehabilitation and help youths avoid a future of crime. Since then there have been many milestones and historical evolutions that can make juvenile justice an effective system.

The Juvenile Justice System was created as a separate network from the Criminal Justice System so that juveniles could be treated differently from adults but still be held accountable for their crimes. This system takes more of a rehabilitative approach to help the juvenile offenders rather than to simply punish them because the goal is to keep the youth on the right path and prevent them from becoming lifelong criminals. While the goal remains the same, different states have different laws in place and other methods when it comes to rehabilitation as well as punishment. Punishment for juveniles always sparks debate because many people argue that punishments such as the death penalty and life in prison should not apply to the youth because of their age. Others argue that without this kind of punishment there would be no fear for juveniles in committing serious crimes which would lead to an unfair practice of justice. An unfair practice of justice occurs across the juvenile justice system already in which race, gender, and ethnicity plays a huge role in determining how far into the system a youth goes. Changes have to be made to this system in order for improvement to be seen but it has to start from the beginning where the juveniles first come into contact with the system.

The juvenile law in America’s system was created on the premise that due to young people’s immaturity, the crimes they have committed should be handled in a different manner from those ascribed to adults. The young people were mostly under the age of eighteen. The key basis was to address the cause of their misdemeanors and to ultimately restore their responsible membership within the community (Bernard, 2012). Juvenile courts date back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In the United States, juvenile courts vary in structure and organization, but all serve the common goal of rehabilitating young people.

The United States leads the world in the incarceration of young people, there are over 100,000 youth placed in jail each year. Locking up youth has shown very little positive impact on reducing crime. Incarcerating youth have posed greater problems such as expenses, limited education, lack of employment, and effect on juveniles’ mental and physical well-being.

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

By law adolescents are not able to vote, purchase tobacco or alcohol, join the armed forces, or sign a legal contract. Children are not permitted the same rights and responsibilities as adults because the law recognizes their inability to make adult decisions. The law acknowledges that children are unable to handle the consequences that come along with the rights that adults have. By allowing them to be charged as adults is holding them to a double standard. Telling them that they are not old enough to enjoy the same luxuries as adults, but they can experience the same punishment as adults if they commit a crime. The law acknowledged the inability of children to make decisions but still allows them to suffer the same consequences as adults. Research demonstrates that transferring children from juvenile court to adult court does not decrease recidivism, and in fact actually increases crime. Instead of the child learning their mistake they are more likely to repeat it. Juvenile detention centers have programs that help reconstruct young minds and help them realize where they went wrong. Prison does not offer this same opportunity. (Estudillo, Mary Onelia)

Theses rights include: knowing why they are in the facility in the first place, having a speedy trial if needed, having a right not to speak in a trail, to introduce evidence on his own behalf, to confront witness against him, to represented by a counsel and many other basic human rights everybody has (Mull). A teenager may also make a grant to hold a trial if needed or wanted. Some people have or want the judge to decide the sentence an adolescent is getting. The judge also decides whether or not an adolescent should stay in a juvenile facility or adult jail depending on the case and their crime (Marcovitz, 36). In a juvenile detention center there are some major differences between that and an adult jail. For example there is a bit difference in the due process of law since it is more limited and you a not able to bail a teenager out of any juvenile detention center. There is also no public trial by a jury, this is called adjudication hearing and a teenager will not be prosecuted for any crime they commit, no matter how bad the crime was. Another main difference is the juvenile courts are way more lenient towards the defendant than in an adult case would be (Mull). With all of these rights and limits a teenager will still be able to have a comfortable stay, yet strict stay, in any juvenile facility they are put in. The teenagers will also be able to express themselves and still be able to learn a lesson for the crime they committed which got them into juvie in the first

There are different types of sentencing options to a juvenile crime, when sentencing a teen or a child they can be classified into two basic categories: incarceration-related options and non-incarceration options. When a teen is in custody they can be in (1) (Detention Facility), this is where the minor has to serve a short term sentencing for the crime he/she committed. (2) (House Arrest), house arrest is when the minor has to stay home, with certain limit to travel from school, work, and wherever the court allows them to go. (3) (Secured Juvenile Facilities) these are similar to juvenile hall except that they are intended for longer terms, sometimes months or years, also called mini boot camps.

The functionality of juvenile courts has increasingly become "a system of criminal social control to protect society from young offenders, rather than as a welfare agency to nurture and protect vulnerable children from a wrathful community" (Hickey, 2010). This shift has caused more of a focus on an individual as a criminal in contrast to the innocence of a child. In turn this has created hostility, which has led to more emphasis on social control and incarceration (Hickey, 2010). In addition, the shift has moved juvenile courts further away from a rehabilitative standpoint. The point of rehabilitating juveniles when they are in adolescence is to try to prevent adult criminal behavior.