Juvenile in the Justice System

In the past 20 years our justice system in the United States has dealt with juvenile offenders in numerous of ways. (Waters, Rob) We have seen and over come the youth of this county being tried as adults for their crimes they have committed. Since we held them to such a high standard we expected them to be perfect, and act like adults. Sadly we lost sight of the fact they were actually children. Typically a juvenile is anyone who is under the age of 18 and in sometimes depending on the severity of the crime this age limit has been changed. Throughout history juveniles have had a harsh time with the court system and their sentencing. Thankfully they are no longer only tried as adults and have a chance to prove to the court system that they can be different.

We go back to the late 1800s and early 1900s where the youth in this country was sought to be tried as adults and sent to jail or even prison deepening on such crime they had committed. Unfortunately this was about the only thing the court systems had in place to the troubled youth so this is how they ended up. The legal system wasn’t concerned about their age or even the sex of the child on trial they just needed a place for the child to go. At times our legal system would put a juvenile in jail because at this time there was nothing else set up for them to go. Only imagining how that child who stole some food because they were hungry felt being in a jail cell with someone who was an adult who’s crime was much worse. Our legal system at this time was flawed and treated juveniles unjustly. Thankfully towards the end of the 19th century our legal system set up group homes, and juvenile facilities to house the troubled youth.

When theses things were set up the juvenile court came into action with the first being established in Cook County, Illinois (Chicago area) (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice). After one community established such court system the rest of the county followed. “The juvenile has been founded on the ancient legal doctrine known as parens patriae this meaning the State as Parent.” (center on juvenile and criminal justice) With this new plan in place it was able to step in when a child was came to trial on the crime he/she had committed. Instead of locking up each juvenile that committed a crime, the system started to focus on how they can help the juvenile turn their life around and become a functioning adult in society. When the juvenile who went into the court system was seen by a judge who focused on how to try each one of theses children. This judge had hope the child could turn their life around and either sent them to the group home or unfortunately a juvenile detention center.

In the 1950s to 1960s we took a look at how the juvenile system was being ran and whether or not it was effectively working. If you were a juvenile and arrested your sentencing would depend on the type of crime you committed, if you are a repeat offender and sadly how the judge was feeling that day as well. Later in the 1960s the Supreme Court introduced the right to more due-process like the right to counsel (have a lawyer), this all was brought to us by formal status of the juvenile courts. This is when things became tricky because the juvenile court was established to protect the youth from being tried as an adult. Unfortunately this opened up to the youth having the possibility of being tried as an adult and being held in and adult prison or jail. Again all this depended on the type of crime that had been committed. When the 1980s happened it is believed that the juvenile just system that our courts had in place was becoming too easy on the youth which in return caused crime in the juvenile community to become on the rise. We had states that created laws that could transfer the juvenile automatically in the adult system based on the severity of the crime that was committed. Ten years later in 1990 the crime rate was rapidly increasing and showed no signs of slowing down, causing a harsher law to be put into place that was easier on the judges to punish the juvenile on trial. The rising crime rate continued into the late 90s causing a juvenile detention center to become overcrowded and unsanitary.

When you are a minor you don’t have the same constitutional rights as an adult does who faces a trial like you do. Before 1960 the juvenile had little due process rights which was a major issue. As court has become more formal both the states and courts have acquired stronger rights for a juvenile that was even constitutional. When you want to search a juvenile you need probable cause to do such task. Unless you are in a school setting then you just need possible motive that such things occurred. When you’re at school you are agreeing by law that you are going to not only uphold the law but the rules of the school and if something is going to cause harm to yourself or others then a school official is a mandated reporter and has to call in law enforcement. When you are arrested as a juvenile you have the are able to make a phone call and typically thats to your parents or if they aren’t present then you will call a lawyer to come assist you at the station. When you place this phone call you are waiving your miranda rights. If a request to use the phone to call someone is refused then what you say after that is inadmissible in court. When you are arrested for a crime and go to your court hearing you are not able to receive bail so you will remain in the custody of the courts until the full trial can take place. The Supreme Court made it possible for you as a juvenile to be able to have a lawyer present at all court cases, which was possible by a cased names In re Gault. If you or your parents the state will appoint someone to represent you in this times. With this case it also made it where you as a juvenile are made aware of the charges that are brought against you. In a juvenile court case you are able to cross examine your witness who is either testifying against you or for you. Juveniles are also not able to testify against him or herself in the court system. Normally when you are going to court its just those present who matter to the case, this is not a jury trial.

To be tried as an adult when you are a juvenile a thing called a wavier must happen. A wavier happens when the judge waives the rights that our juvenile court system provides for you. If this happens then the crime that has been committed is normally a more serious one. This can also happen if you have gone through the system time and time again and it’s not working so more serious matters need to be taken. When a wavier happens and you become open to being tried as an adult then you gain more constitutional rights unlike before. With this chance of happening you will not face time in a detention center or just have probation you will face time in an adult facility where their crimes could be harsher than yours. In most cases the wavier only happens if you are around the age of 16, this also depends on the severity of the crime because those younger can get this also. With the rise of juvenile crime in todays society this wavier happens more than it used to. If you are tried as an adult then you could be a felon for the rest of your life or even a sex offender. When a waiver takes place it opens up a whole new world on where the juvenile can go. Like I stated before they can face prison, or be a sex offender for the rest of their life. Their punishment is much harsher and more serious than in the juvenile courts.

“In 1989 our Supreme Court had a hearing called Stanford V. Kentucky which followed the Eighth Amendment. This hearing then made it illegal for a juvenile the ages of 16 to 17 to be facing the death sentencing based on their crimes. Then in 2002 Atkins v Virginia, the Supreme Court took into consideration the special needs of a person with mental retardation. With this ruling it is stated it was unconstitutional if a juvenile of such sorts was to be tried with the death penalty. This is also considered cruel and unusual punishment. Jumping to 2005 in a ruling by the Supreme Court Roper v Simmons stated that any juvenile under the legal age of 18 during the time of the crime they have committed can not receive the a death sentence. In both the 2002 and 2005 court cases they were working with juveniles with a special need of mental retardation which lead to a different court hearing than that of one who’s not. With this ruling it affected 72 different juvenile offenders that of which resided in 12 separate states. (Capital punishment in context)

Graham v Collins was a court case where a boy received the death penalty before it was noticed as unconstitutional. Gary Graham was just a 17 year old juvenile who was convicted of murder. His crimes were several robberies, several assaults, and one rape. Under the Texas law Graham was eligible for the death penalty for the crime he had committed. The law that Texas had in place at this time was enough for a jury to see him as a problem to the community in the future. Since Graham was older when he had committed his crime some jurors thought that this would in return be a reason for him to be a repeat offender, which lead to the death sentencing. The grandmother attested in court that his mother had been hospitalized because she had a condition which resulted in her becoming nervous periodically, also stating that he had lived with her from time to time due to this and shed never known him to be violent or disrespectful. Since this was Texas law when you find someone who is a could be a dangerous person in the future this results in the death penalty. When they found Graham guilty in 2000 he was sentenced to death by execution, had they waited five years this would never have happened. This is when our U.S. Supreme Court forbade this type of sentencing for juvenile defendants.

As a juvenile in the justice system you have to realize that the harsher crime you have committed the more likely you are going to be tried as an adult. If you have committed more than one crime and done so time and time again then you’re more than app to be tried as an adult. Even if you are 12 years old you are not safe from the adult court system. Juveniles have a much easier and less harsh punishment for a sentence. When our legal system is unsuccessful in the recognization of a juveniles capability to stand trial, sadly it is paying hardly any attention to the differences in developmental delays that is in each juvenile. At times psychologist look at each youth individually and see if they are mature or not. However in the world we live in which is more black and white we leave little room for the gray.

References

1. California teen charged as an adult in murder of 8-year-old Madyson Middleton, New York Daily News, Golgowski, Nina, July 2015 https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/boy-charged-adult-murder-madyson-middleton-article-1.2308194
2. When Juveniles Are Tried in Adult Criminal Court, Nolo, Michon, Kathleen, Copyright © 2018 MH Sub I, LLC, https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/juveniles-youth-adult-criminal-court-32226.html
3. Juvenile History, Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice, © 2018 Copyright by Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. http://www.cjcj.org/education1/juvenile-justice-history.html
4. Authorizing Legislation, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, https://www.ojjdp.gov/about/legislation.html
5. Constitutional Rights in Juvenile Cases, A look at the constitutional due process rights of youth in juvenile court cases, Nolo, Michon, Kathleen, Copyright © 2018 MH Sub I, LLC, https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/constitutional-rights-juvenile-proceedings-32224.html
6. The Death Penalty for Juveniles, Capital Punishment In Context, https://capitalpunishmentincontext.org/issues/juveniles