NCJ Number
90596
Date Published
1982
Length
564 pages
Annotation
This reference volume outlines the principles, strategies, and skills required for effective advocacy of youth and juvenile defendants, with attention to procedural matters, diversion, detention, plea bargaining, trials and hearings, dispositions, and the Federal Youth Corrections Act (FYCA).
Abstract
The opening chapters survey the juvenile court's history, court processes, and jurisdictional issues, noting that the modern juvenile court is a mixture of parens patriae and constitutionally required procedural safeguards. A description of the counsel's role in juvenile cases provides suggestions for appropriate behavior, tactics and strategies, and defendant interviewing. The book categorizes the levels of involvement in a juvenile case -- police investigation, arrest, and formal proceedings -- and specifically analyzes the petition charging an alleged offense and a juvenile's constitutional rights. An interviewing agenda covers personal history, circumstances surrounding the arrest, and police behavior. Ways to divert a juvenile from court and protect a client during the intake process are detailed. Other suggestions focus on obtaining a client's release from detention, the arraignment hearing, and plea bargaining, where a wide range of alternative dispositions is available. Topics examined in the preliminary hearing chapter are probable cause determination, cross-examination tactics, and transfer or waiver of jurisdiction, while subsequent sections discuss pretrial motion practices and confrontation or cross-examination in a hearing or trial. The overview of sentencing emphasizes that the juvenile court considers the defendant's welfare paramount and describes probation practices as well as mitigating circumstances that can contribute to misconduct. The postdispositional chapter concentrates on parole, but also reviews transfer, expungement, and appeal matters. The final section explains the FYCA affecting offenders 18 to 22 years old. Footnotes and references accompany each chapter. The volume provides the texts of the FYCA, the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act, Chapter 2 of Standards for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, an index, and a July 1983 supplement.