NCJ Number
97712
Journal
Detroit College of Law Review Volume: 1983 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1983) Pages: 1185-1193
Date Published
1983
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This paper proposes several reforms in the jurisdiction and practice of Michigan's juvenile courts with regard to child abuse and neglect cases and delinquency hearings.
Abstract
The proposals encompass these concepts: recognition in juvenile jurisdiction of the child maturation process and its implications, clear identification of the legal dispositions in terms of consequences of specific behaviors, acknowledgement that a parent does not have absolute right to custody of the child, and the need for speedy and visible justice. Specific proposals are as follows: (1) divide the court's jurisdiction in terms of age: up to 2 years, 2 to 5 years, and 5 years and over; (2) tailor presumptions of parent responsibility and time allowed to make a determination of rights to each age group; (3) disallow evidence given by a parent in this civil proceeding in a criminal proceeding; (4) eliminate the use of assigned counsel; and (5) create a position known as a child advocate. Further proposed reforms would consider a hearing on the termination of rights adjudicatory rather than dispositional, require a complete rewriting of the definitions of abuse and neglect, restrict the court's jurisdiction to children aged 12 through 17, enact a statutory assumption that the child between the ages of 7 and 12 lacks criminal capability, limit the use of psychiatric treatment for juveniles brought before Court, and authorize the juvenile court to order restitution and apply the concept of reckoning time in the child's sense of time in the disposition of delinquency. The present statutory authorization for reconsideration at any time should be repealed and replaced with provisions that pertain only to interlocutory orders, describe the kinds of determinations subject to reconsideration, and establish prerequisites for such requests. Among the other reforms suggested are decentralizing juvenile court offices and hearings in urban areas and prohibiting detention or confinement for status offenders.