NCJ Number
198494
Date Published
May 1998
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This report provides information on the number of delinquency cases processed in juvenile courts in the United States in 1995 and includes data on juveniles and case dispositions.
Abstract
Juvenile courts in the United States processed an estimated 1.7 million delinquency cases in 1995 involving juveniles charged with criminal law violations that include: person offenses (377,300), property offenses (871,700), drug law violations (159,100), and public order offenses (306,300). Estimates in this report on delinquency cases were based on data from nearly 1,800 courts having jurisdiction over 67 percent of the U.S. juvenile population in 1995. In 1995, juveniles were securely detained in 19 percent of those delinquency cases processed with those charged with drug law violations making up the largest portion of those detained (24 percent). More than 21 percent of all delinquency cases were dismissed at intake in 1995 due to the lack of legal sufficiency. Juvenile delinquency cases transferred or waived to criminal court totaled 9,700 in 1995, 21 percent less than 1994. In 1995, juveniles were adjudicated delinquent in 56 percent of 855,200 cases brought before a judge. The majority of adjudicated juveniles (54 percent) were placed on formal probation. In relation to gender, age, and race, information included: (1) nearly 78 percent of the delinquency cases involved a male juvenile in 1995; (2) 60 percent of the juvenile delinquency cases processed in 1995 involved a juvenile under the age of 16; and (3) in 1995, approximately 80 percent of the juvenile population in the United States was white and 15 percent Black.