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Kids Behind Bars: The Legality of Incarcerating Juveniles in Adult Jails

NCJ Number
133357
Journal
Indiana Law Journal Volume: 66 Issue: 4 Dated: (Fall 1991) Pages: 999-1029
Author(s)
K H Chung
Date Published
1991
Length
31 pages
Annotation
The intent of this review is to analyze the constitutional, statutory, and civil wrongs involved with the incarceration of juveniles in adult prisons which obstruct the administration of the "parens patriae" doctrine.
Abstract
Following a review of the problems juveniles face when confined in adult institutions, the author examines how the shortcomings of the juvenile justice system violate the legal rights of juveniles, considers alternative rehabilitation programs that reformers have implemented as contemporary solutions to some of the problems in the juvenile justice system, and proposes drafting and implementing a comprehensive model juvenile code and a revamping of the juvenile justice system to emphasize increased regulatory control on the part of the states. Efforts of reformers to change existing conditions in the system are analyzed in the context of recent court decisions and governmental actions including the Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act and the expansion of liability claims and recovery measures. 185 footnotes