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Dedication and Uncertainty: Reflections Upon the Eighth National Conference on Juvenile Justice

NCJ Number
137984
Journal
Journal of Juvenile Law Volume: 6 Dated: (1982) Pages: 36-48
Author(s)
W S Geimer
Date Published
1982
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Some events at the Eighth National Conference on Juvenile Justice are recounted as a basis to propose a modest procedural device as a first step toward recognition and reconciliation of the competing approaches currently at work in the juvenile justice system.
Abstract
The various conference workshops illustrate the difficulty of defending the current efficacy of a juvenile justice system in transition by providing examples of the shortcomings of the "protective" system model, which preceded the insertion of attorneys into the process by constitutional mandate; the "adversary" model, which has been engrafted piecemeal upon the system since 1967; and the hybrid model, which seems to characterize current practice. The success of the proposed mandatory prehearing conference depends upon adaptation by participants to modifications of their traditional roles. A prehearing conference represents an opportunity to realize a nonadversary disposition, which conserves scarce resources and achieves more just results. 32 references