NCJ Number
122691
Journal
ABA Journal Volume: 76 Dated: (April 1990) Pages: 60-65
Date Published
1990
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Legal experts who have reviewed America's juvenile justice system claim that juveniles are denied due process safeguards guaranteed to adults and are not given the solicitous care intended to rehabilitate them.
Abstract
Social scientists have not been capable of designing appropriate diagnoses and treatment plans for delinquent youths, and the informality of the juvenile court system has led to widespread abuses. Juveniles are often not represented by lawyers. Several researchers make proposals for improving the juvenile justice system. Included among the proposals are the total abolition of juvenile courts, the adjudication of delinquents by lay panels, the availability of common law defenses and lighter sentences because of youthful immaturity, and the integration of juvenile courts with a state's general trial system. The American Bar Association proposes assigning judges to juvenile courts for one year with renewals for no longer than two years to reduce the abuses that result from judicial "empires."