The Development of the Juvenile Justice System

The first juvenile court system was established in Illinois in 1899, before this system came into play children were seen as “miniature adults”. Therefore, they were tried and punished as adults. After research and advance understanding of how a child’s brain works, developers, and a push for a compassionate approach changed it all. In the 1880 and 1920, there was a large wave of immigration and urbanization. Which caused hundreds of children to be on the streets and committing crimes. Children who committed crimes would be housed with the adult criminals, who would teach these children how to commit adult crimes.

Once, children had been released from jail they were prepared to live a life of criminality. Law makers, and other officials soon realized this was a big mistake, and because of the negative influence separate juvenile court systems and accompanying correctional institutions were developed. (Reuters, 2020) The original Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act Passed in 1974, setting core standards that the state must follow, which included removing children from adults’ prisons and jails.

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On December 20, 2019. Presdident Donald Trump signed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which bans states from placing children in adult jail even if the child is charged with an adult crime.

Juvenile BCJJA in San Antonio

In San Antonio there is a program that The Texas legislature established back in 1995, called the (BCJJA’s) Bexar County Juvenile Justice Academy. This academy was started to keep kids who had been expelled from school off the streets, it also is for juveniles who have a trouble in school.

This academy offers regular classes such as math, science, computers, etc. Students who attend also have substance abuse class, anger management, and counseling which is available to parents. This legislation is for beneficial for this community, since some juveniles have hard time attending public school. This allows them to get what they need in a slower environment and provides classes that aren’t in the public-school settings. Which keeps the juvenile from getting into more trouble and getting behind in schoolwork.

Origin and Predominant philosophy

The juvenile justice system is meant to rehabilitate the youth instead of treating them like criminals. The juvenile system is also meant to help parents identify the problem the juvenile is dealing with and help find a solution, that will keep the child from going down a ride as a lifetime criminal permanently. The rehabilitation process is getting the juvenile to admit their wrongdoings, getting the proper treatment, punishment, and completing the program successful. If the juvenile completes the program, then he or she will have their record expunged.

Key differences between Juvenile and Adult systems

Juveniles are classified as a youth between the ages of seven and seventeen years old. However, the federal law defines a juvenile as a person who hasn’t hit their 18th birthday. Many other states have no age limit for juveniles, and each case is its own merit. There are certain laws that pertain to only juveniles, which are referred to as “status offenses”. Juveniles that commit crimes are known as” juvenile delinquents” which is labeled as “juvenile delinquency”. Status offenses include behavior issues such as not going to school, and so on. Juvenile and criminal justice consist of a network of agencies, institutions organization, and personnel that process juvenile offenders. There are core principles that separate the juvenile from the criminal court for example juveniles are called minors and in criminal court the person is called the defendant, if a juvenile has committed an offense there will be treatment along with punishment. If the minor isn’t housed in a detention center, then a parent or guardian must be present at the court hearing. The court will appoint an attorney for the minor if the family isn’t able to provide one, this attorney will meet with the juvenile before court to get an update on school and home life, the probation officer will be the one giving the report to the judge. If the juvenile is housed at the detention center than a hearing will be held to determine if the minor will get out with or without restrictions. If the minor is released at the detention hearing then he or she will have to follow rules such as: curfew, school attendance, return to court, etc all which will be monitored by his or her probation officer. Shortly, after the detention hearing there will be a settlement hearing for the minor. The settlement hearing is in place to see if the minor will accept responsibility for his or her actions and if so, the judge will make sure he or she know their rights. If the minor admits to the crime, then a disposition hearing will be held. This is a hearing where the minor my speak, parents may speak, and the victim’s family may speak. Once everyone has spoken it is up to the judge to rule how the juvenile will be rehabilitated and the punishment. On the other hand, if the juvenile doesn’t admit the case will be given a jurisdictional hearing, This hearing is when all parties get to call witness and cross exam, only after both sides have been heard the judge will either dismiss the case or a disposition will be given. When a juvenile has completed probation then he or she will have the opportunity to have their record expunged. Criminal court is a lot different from juvenile court, to start out they are called defendants. When a crime has been committed the person is arrested and held until they see a judge, which is called the first appearance. Frist appearance is when a bail will be talked about and the charges will be revealed, and the defendant has the chance to pled guilty or not. The first appearance is followed by a pre-trail date, in which a plea deal when come into play. If no agreement has been reached than the person is allowed a trail, which will consist of a jury of either six or twelve. The jurors will be the ones to make the decision of guilt or innocent. If the defendant is found guilty than the charges will follow them for the rest of their life.

Delinquency is said to be a violation of any law by a person who hasn’t yet hit their 18th birthday, and the offense committed would otherwise be a crime is committed by someone 18 or older: examples of this would be shoplifting, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and so on. Dependency is a program for at risk youth and their families. Judicial decision makers are assigned to the dependency cases and have to stay in the case until permanency is put in place by the child going home or the child is in an adoptive home. Dependency cases could be cases that involve abuse abandonment or lack of parental control. (Merlo,, Benekos, P. J., & Champion, D. J, 2016, )

Confidentiality and Reasoning

There are many things that come out in a court such as family secrets, and the court wants the family to feel comfortable speaking about such things. Since, the juveniles record will be expunged once they are eighteen, the courts don’t want personal information getting out. Information that could cost the juvenile a job, embarrassing the family and the victim’s family, or making the juvenile apart of a stigma.

Closing

Now, that we have better understanding as to how and why the juvenile justice system was created and how the laws apply, rehabilitation for these young adults should be our primary focus. The Juvenile justice system is a way to deter these young adults from committing adult crimes when that are of age. This system focuses on the child and not so much of his or crime however, some youth can be charged with adult crimes even as juveniles.

References

1. Merlo,, A.V., Benekos, P. J., P.J., & Champion, D. J, D.J. (2016). The juvenile justice system: Delinquency, processing, and the law. (8th ed.). Retrieved from .Goldstein, . (2018).
2. Juvenile Offenses. Retrieved from http://goldsteinhilley.comReuters, T. (2020). History of the juvenile Justice System. Retrieved from http://criminal.findlaw.com