NCJ Number
158354
Journal
New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1995) Pages: 509-542
Date Published
1995
Length
34 pages
Annotation
The author believes that pretrial juvenile detention is overused by the juvenile justice system and that such overuse may actually create more problems for society than crime itself.
Abstract
Potential problems include increased juvenile crime rates, increased juvenile recidivism, and alienation of youth from societal guidelines. Even so, to supplement the punishment of juvenile offenders, all States have included a pretrial juvenile detention statute in their juvenile justice systems. Generally, these statutes may be invoked to ensure the juvenile's presence at trial, to preserve order in trial proceedings, to protect the juvenile prior to trial, or to protect society prior to trial from the juvenile's predicted dangerousness. The validity and scope of pretrial juvenile detention statutes are analyzed, and arguments against the constitutionality of pretrial juvenile detention are discussed. Guidelines of the American Correctional Association for juvenile detention centers are noted, current conditions of juvenile detention centers are examined, and negative effects of pretrial detention on juveniles are evaluated. The author suggests that courts should reduce the use of pretrial juvenile detention because of its negative effects and that parental or familial custody of juveniles should be the preferred alternative. 233 footnotes