NCJ Number
86551
Date Published
1983
Length
162 pages
Annotation
A social scientist explores forces affecting decisionmaking and performance in New York City's family (juvenile) court, a subject of intense media and public criticism during the 1970's. The book examines the impact of bureaucratic inefficiencies and defense counsel performance on court malfunctions.
Abstract
New York City took the lead in extending due process privileges to delinquent and persons-in-need-of-supervision (PINS) youths. The State requires the judiciary to conform to certain standards and strictly limits a juvenile's period of institutionalization. Faced with rising juvenile crime rates and evidence of case attrition and delay, the court has attempted to toughen its policies. The author suggests that various elements of the court's internal structure have contributed to organizational breakdowns and delays in the judicial process, including poor communication, lack of accountability in decisionmaking, and scheduling inefficiencies. Perhaps a more important contributor to the court's inertia is the unbalanced relationship between defense attorney and prosecutor, giving them greater influence during dispositional hearings. Defense attorneys have larger staffs and a more well-defined role than the prosecution. The State's capacity to render swift judgment and enforce its perspective has thus been undermined. The author cites other environmental and socioeconomic factors affecting the juvenile court and presents results of a 2-year investigation into the processing of delinquent and PINS cases in New York's family court. Data tables, chapter notes, an index, a glossary, and appended study methods are included.