NCJ Number
84954
Date Published
1982
Length
41 pages
Annotation
Political factors influencing the adoption of the California law prohibiting secure detention of status offenders are reviewed, and the impact of Federal law on the deinstitutionalization of status offenders in California is discussed.
Abstract
In 1976, California passed legislation prohibiting all secure detention of status offenders. Prior to 1976, California was incarcerating large numbers of status offenders in locked facilities. The prodetention policy was rooted in (1) the interventionist tradition underlying the juvenile court law, (2) the prodetention constituency of the State's juvenile institutions, (3) the meager development of community-based agencies in the State, and (4) dominant public attitudes favoring the lockup of offenders. There were, nevertheless, early advocates of deinstitutionalization of status offenders. Some citizen groups, public interest lawyers, and some probation personnel were supportive of changes in status offender policy. In 1970, the Assembly Criminal Procedure Committee of the legislature held interim hearings on the juvenile court process, and the report strongly criticized the State's handling of status offenders. The 1976 legislation prohibiting the secure detention of status offenders can be attributed to the tenacity of a few reform-oriented policymakers, to some legislative compromises, and to the fatigue and confusion that traditionally surround the last 2 or 3 days of each legislative session. While Federal funding requirements emphasizing the deinstitutionalization of status offenders had little influence on the 1976 law, a 1978 backlash to restore secure detention for status offenders was countered by appeal to Federal standards for receiving juvenile justice funding, although this had limited effectiveness. The compromise, however, was patterned in a way that permitted the continuation of Federal funding. Seven references and the names of the persons interviewed are provided.