NCJ Number
171476
Date Published
1997
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The Nation's juvenile courts have been so overwhelmed by the increase in violent juvenile crime and the breakdown of the family that judges and politicians are debating whether the juvenile justice system should be abolished and most minors tried as adults.
Abstract
Leading the charge are conservative politicians who have passed laws in all 50 States to allow juveniles to be tried in adult court and sent to adult prison. Congress is poised to pass a law with provisions for $1.5 billion in Federal grants to States that try larger numbers of youth in adult court and making 14-year-olds subject to trial in Federal court if they commit specified felonies. In addition to the efforts of conservative lawmakers to undermine or abolish the juvenile court, some left- wing legal scholars have also called for abolishing the juvenile court, although for different reasons. Barry Feld, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota, believes that juveniles often fail to receive adequate legal representation in juvenile court and would fare better in adult court, where they would more likely be assigned to competent lawyers. Some children's advocates, who in the past championed the juvenile court, have urged still another solution, that is, that the court scale back its judicial role and transfer its functions to community groups or social service agencies that would provide better treatment for youth in trouble. The criticism of the juvenile court misses a fundamental point, some specialists believe. With the breakdown of the family, is there any court system, juvenile or adult, that can do the job society once did: instill discipline and values in children, punish them if they misbehave, and then help redeem them.