Rethinking Philosophical Issues

• NCJ Number: 79038
• Journal: RODINO INSTITUTE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE ANNUAL JOURNAL Volume: 2 Dated: (1980) Pages: 27-37
• Author(s): J Miller; A Dershowitz; A Breed
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Panel one's discussion at the Conference on Juvenile Justice Reform, October 12, 1979, Andrew Von Hirsch, moderator. Panel consisted of Jerome Miller, Alan Dershowitz, and Allen Breed.

Annotation

These panel presentations from the 1979 Conference on Juvenile Justice Reform examine criteria for the institutionalization of juveniles and guidelines for juvenile court intervention.

Abstract

The first presentation advises that the aim of reform should be to alleviate the injustice of institutionalizing status offenders and those who have committed minor delinquency offenses while juveniles who have committed serious crimes are given lenient treatment. According to LEAA, of the approximately 750,000 juveniles jailed in 1974, less than 12 percent were arrested for violent crimes. The great majority were juveniles who had committed petty offenses, status offenses, or no offense at all. These disparate results stem largely from the inefficiency and inefficacy of the juvenile courts. Court delays of a year or more contribute to a high dismissal rate, and legal constraints on the handling of juvenile suspects in a crime often make it difficult to obtain the evidence needed to sustain charges. Further, sealing the records of a juvenile offender makes it difficult, if not impossible, to render dispositions based on habitual delinquency. Also, juvenile courts, because of their traditional rehabilitation orientation, ignore the nature of the crime and an offender's prior record. A scheme of presumptions is needed that uses a variety of factors to help determine whether a particular juvenile offender will be dealt with by the juvenile or adult track of the criminal justice system. The second presentation, in discussing criteria for juvenile court intervention in cases of status offenses, sets the following guidelines: (1) a pattern of habitual unauthorized absence from school, (2) repeated disregard for or misuse of lawful parental authority, (3) repeated running away from home, (4) repeated use of intoxicating beverage, and (5) commission of delinquent acts by a juvenile younger than 10 years-old.