Diversion of Status Offenders, Criminalization, and the New York Family Court

• NCJ Number: 121453
• Author(s): M Rouse
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 18 pages
• Corporate Author: New York City Criminal Justice Agency, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This is a revised version of a paper presented at the 1989 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology in Reno, November 8, 1989.

Annotation

This paper compares the effects of the Juvenile Offender (JO) law and the Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS) legislation on juvenile justice policy in New York.

Abstract

The "get tough" policy toward serious juvenile offenders in New York State, marked by the passage of the Juvenile Offender law in 1978, redefined an entire class of juvenile offenders as adults. However, the PINS legislation reaffirms rehabilitation as a goal to take place entirely within the community. The PINS diversion policy focuses on treatment and the role of the family in rehabilitation. When it is successful, diversion takes control out of the hands of the Family Court judges, prosecutors, and defense lawyers and transfers it over to the social workers and the State agencies. Instead of formal processing, clients are given the opportunity to opt for informal and nonpunitive processing as an alternative. The problem is that, in the case of PINS diversion, actual diversion programs have a destination in mind for the client, therefore redefining the process. On a structural level, diversion does not "expand the jurisdiction" of the court or even widen its net; it redefines the system of which the court is one part by setting up a parallel system. (Author abstract modified)