NCJ Number
76912
Date Published
1979
Length
1950 pages
Annotation
This final report by the National District Attorneys Association describes the 1978-79 Juvenile Justice Standards Symposium Project in which representatives from national professional organizations discussed 16 critical issues involving juvenile justice standards.
Abstract
The three sets of standards were those of the Institute for Judicial Administration/American Bar Association (IJA/ABA Standards), the National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice (Task Force Standards), and the National Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (NAC Standards). The final set of standards were promulgated to implement the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. Position papers on the issues were prepared by consultants from the National District Attorneys Association, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Judicial Administration Division of the American Bar Association, and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. A 3-day symposium was then held in 1978 for oral presentations by the consultants. The report contains abstracts of the 16 position papers, summaries of the symposium discussion that followed their presentation, and the texts of the position papers. The topics included court organization and services, jurisdiction of the juvenile court over noncriminal misbehavior and over abuse and neglect, and pretrial detention. The waiver of jurisdiction, intake and diversion, jury and public trial, adjudication, and the prosecutor's role were also discussed. Additional topics included proportionality and determinate sentencing, the right to counsel in delinquency proceedings, the termination of parental rights, the rights of minors in nondelinquent settings, interim status, and records and confidentiality. The report concludes that serious consideration should be given to implementing all three sets of standards since there are fundamental points of agreement among the three sets. These include endorsement of the concept of determinate sentencing, the need for limits to judicial discretion within the juvenile justice system, the need for accountability by juveniles for their actions, and the need for accountability by all decisionmakers within the system. The report lists coordinators from each of the symposium's sponsoring organizations, project topics, and consultants. For related reports, see NCJ 76913-28.