NCJ Number
146319
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 40 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1994) Pages: 54- 68
Date Published
1994
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article focuses on the practice in the Illinois juvenile court system of incarcerating juvenile status offenders for contempt when they violate a court order. Challenges to the propriety of this practice are presented.
Abstract
This article examines the propriety of trying to force juvenile status offenders to comply with a court order by incarcerating them for contempt if they fail to comply. This is a practice of the Illinois juvenile courts that has been upheld by the State's appellate and supreme courts even though it appears to violate the intent of the Illinois Juvenile Court Act. Some of those cases are reviewed. The Act was intended to promote the care, guidance and welfare of juveniles. It provided nonpunitive dispositions for juveniles who legislators recognized did not have the maturity to make the rational decisions society expects from adults. It expressly prohibited placing nondelinquent minors in secure detention centers. The author explains the law of contempt and discusses the legal, economic and sociological reasons it is inappropriate for the Illinois juvenile courts to charge juvenile status offenders with contempt.