A History of the Juvenile Justice System The Nutshell Version, Anyhow.
Post on 04-Jan-2016
217 Views
Preview:
Transcript
A History of the Juvenile Justice System
The Nutshell Version, Anyhow
Two Central Issues
1. Why should kids who commit crimes be treated any differently than adults?
• At what age does a kid cease to become a “kid?”
2. If kids should be treated differently, how should they be treated?
Pre-Middle Ages
• Code of Hammurabi (2270 b.c.)
• Other Examples– Roman civil and church law– Ancient Jewish and Moslem laws
Middle Ages (500-1500ad)
• Roman criminal law codified in the “Twelve Tables”– Eventually, under the “Justinian Code”
• 0-7 Years = not criminally responsible• 7-12/14 = know right from wrong?• >12/14 = adult
• English common law emerges (1000-1100ad)– Early common law = “too young for punishment” – By 1500s, common law adopts scheme similar to
Justinian code
Middle Ages II
• English Common Law– 0 to 7 = not criminally responsible– 7-14 = burden on state to demonstrate that
the child:• Formed criminal intent• Understood consequences of their actions• Knew right from wrong
• Concept of Parens Patriae develops – Civil law, King as “parent of country”
England 1500-1700
• Statute of Artificers (1562) and Poor Laws (1602)– Children of paupers apprenticed
• Punishment of criminal children still similar to adults– Corporal/public, banishment, galley slavery
• Bridewell Workhouse (London, 1557)– Precursor to prisons, idea = “reform through labor”– Mostly for “idle”/”disorderly”
Colonial America
• Until the late 1700sEnglish Common Law– Prison uncommon, many children found
“innocent” to spare them corporal punishment
U.S. 1775-1825
1. The Industrial Revolution
2. The Birth of the Penitentiary
3. “Gentleman Reformers”
Result of these trends: Houses of Refuge– Ex Parte Crouse (1839)
And later, “Industrial” and “Reform” schools– People ex rel. O’Connell V. Turner (1870)
The “Child Saving Movement”
• Child Savers disgruntled with “child prisons” – Deep mistrust of “the city” and immigrants
• Advocated rural “Cottage Style” housing• Helped to “place out” city kids to farm families
Progressive Era (1900-1930)
• The Progressives– Optimists + Faith in Government
• General = sanitation, poverty, unsafe labor…• Juveniles = compulsory education, helped shape
juvenile justice system
The Juvenile Court Movement
• First Juvenile Court in Illinois (1899)– Quasi-civil nature of court
• Parens Patriae = act in best interest of child using non-criminal procedures
• No “special wrong” necessary
– Characteristics• Informal, closed proceedings with sealed records• Medical model of “diagnosing” social ills• Age = 15 years and younger• Probation Officers to investigate and rehabilitate
J.C. Spreads (1900-1950)
05101520253035404550
1899 1905 1909 1927 1950
Innovation and Stability
• Juvenile Courts Spread, but differences emerged– Some states require procedures similar to criminal court, others
courts grant judge complete discretion to “follow conscience”
• Discretion/Informality becomes key issue– Good?– Bad?
• By the 1950s, many juvenile courts are “bureaucratic and burdened”
Winds of Change 1960-1975
• Social Context of this Period Crucial– Viet Nam, Kent State, Attica, Watergate…– Increase in crime, divorce, single parents…– Youth flaunting morals of prior generation
• Ideological Responses – Conservatives?– Liberals/Progressives?
Strange Bedfellows
• Conservatives and Liberals largely agree on policy Issues– In both adult and juvenile system, discretion should be limited– Juveniles should be granted due process rights
• Differences?– Conservatives treat juveniles more like adults, punishment
works– Liberals most juveniles should be diverted from the system,
short sentences for those that aren’t
Constitutional Domestication
• Kent vs. United States (1961)
• In Re Gault (1967)
• In Re Winship (1970)
• Breed v. Jones (1975)
• Justice Stewarts Dissent Opinion in Gault
From Cox et. al (Your Book)
• “Legalists”
• “Case Workers” (Social Work)
OJJDP and DSO
• 1967 President Johnson’s “Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice.”
• 1974 Congress enacts “Juveniel Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.” – Creation of OJJDP– Decriminalization, Deinstitutionalization, elimination of court
authority over status offenders
• Mass. “deinstitutionalization” experiment
Getting “Tough” 1980-2000
• Backlash against diversion, labeling theory – Political Rhetoric “get tough on juveniles”– National “war on drugs”– 1984 National Advisory Committee for
Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention
How have we gotten “tough?”
• Legislative Policy– Juvenile Wavier, Statutory Exclusion– Lower upper age limit of jurisdiction– Sentencing (Blended, mandatory minimum)– Confidentiality, records in adult courts
• Types of Punishment– Boot Camps, ISP, Electronic Monitoring
Where is policy now
• Crime in general is not “high profile” issue
• OJJDP 1993 Comprehensive Strategy
• Barry Feld’s “Criminological triage”
Research For Debates and Papers
• I Expect evidence from academic sources– Journal articles, academic books
• Searching for articles/books– Get references from books or articles– Government reports (OJJDP, NCJRS…)– Search
• Criminal Justice Abstracts• Sage journals search (full text)• Journal of Crime and Delinquency (full text)
top related