Juvenile Justice Exam I

3 Main Methods for Measuring Juvenile Crime

1. Official Statistics

2. Self -Report Studies

3. Victimization Studies

4. Drug Use Forecasting

Official Statistics Uniform Crime Reports (URI)

• Crimes reported to the police

• Arrests made by the police

Cons:

• “Incomplete” picture of crimes

• Figures often mistrusted

• Primarily used for “trend” analysis

Self-Report Studies

• Anonymous surveys taken among individuals

• “Cross-selection” of population

• More “complete” picture of crime

• Figures often doubted as exaggerated or untrue

• Primary use is for “individual level info

Victimization Studies

• Government-paid professionals asking citizens if they have been victims and if they reported the crime

• Extensive questionnaire of a cross-section of the population

• Reliable data

• Shows large amount of crime unreported

• Used to learn about victim impact

Drug Use Forecasting

• Determine the type and amount of drugs connected to the crime

• Surveys taken of adult arrestees (some are youthful of offenders)

• Urine test to verify

• Primary to help match treatment programming with actual drugs being used

Delinquents

• Minor child who has violated the penal code

• Defined as younger than 17 or 18 years of age in most states

• Kept separate from adults

• Law considers juveniles to be less responsible for their behavior

• Subject to arrest, trial, and incarceration

  • Transfer to adult court

Status Offenders

• Applies only to persons under-age

• Non-criminal, but “troublesome” behavior of minors; children in need of supervision na help

  • Runaways

  • Truants

  • Out of Control of Parents

• Significant decreases in recent years

Status Offenders and Delinquents

Historically:

• Status Offenders and Delinquents were often mixed in the same correctional facilities

• Juvenile Offenders (status and delinquent) were often mixed with adults in the same

• correctional facilities

U.S. goverment study of Status Offenders in the 1970’s concluded that:

• Mixing Status Offenders with Delinquents in Juvenile Facilities was harmful to status offenders;

• Mixing Juveniles and Adults in correctional facilities was extremely harmful to juveniles;

Mixing Delinquents and Status Offenders

Status offenders, often, have a good reason for their behavior:

• Running away from abuse

• Truancy due to negligent parents

• Out of Control of Parents due to inconsistent discipline

• When the “official response” is incarceration, they are stigmatized

• Status offenders tend to learn criminal behavior from delinquents

Juveniles and Adult Offenders

• Juveniles learn to be better criminals

• Juveniles find new “role models” among the adult offenders

• Juveniles make “anti-social” relationships and continue them on release

• Juveniles are exploited and victimized

Status Offenders in Juvenile Courts

• Families with Service Needs (FWSN)

  • A “Civil” Process

  • Many parties (schools, parents, police, social workers) can petition the court to intervene in order to assist needy families

  • Court can “order” services and assistance

  • Juvenile Probation supervises these cases, but relies on community services to help—counseling, mediation, school advocacy, etc

  • If orders are violated, courts cannot “detain” juveniles. But, this is being changed dramatically

CT Status Offender Reform

• Effective August 15, 2017, no further referrals to juvenile courts

• Referral instead to Youth Service Bureaus and other social service networks

• No longer a judicial problem to resolve

• Now a community and school problem

Differences in Adult and Juvenile Justice Systems

Adult System

• “Fairness, Justice, Public Protection”

• Goal

  • Public Safety

• Adult Sentencing Structure is “Determinate” or fixed; 3yrs, 4yrs, 5yrs

• 
  

Juvenile System

• “The State if the Father”, “Parens Patraie”, Best Interest of the Chil, “In loco parentis”

• Goals

  • Public Safety

  • Protection and Treatment of Juveniles

  • Avoid Stigma

• Age is the determinant for Juvenile jurisdiction, not the offense

• Juveniles can be apprehended for status offenses

• Juvenile Courts are more informal, closed to the public and often not adversarial

• Identifying information on juveniles is not released

• Parents are highly involved in juvenile matters

• Juveniles are released to parents, not bail

• No right to a jury in Juvenile Court

• Juvenile records are sealed

• No Death Penalty in juvenile matters

• Juvenile Sentencing Structure is “Indeterminate”

  • Not fixed or set

  • Sentenced “up to” 2 years

  • Juvenile specialists make determination on actual time in corrections depending on the child’s progress and his best interest

Terms Used in Adult and Juvenile Justice System

Similarities Between the Adult and Juvenile Justice Systems

Police, Judges, Corrections use “Discretion” in making decisions;

• The “Miranda” warnings

• Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys

• Right to Counsel

• Negotiations and Plea Bargaining

• Rights to Hearings and Appeals

• Standard of Evidence is beyond a reasonable doubt

• Use of probation, pretrial detention, community treatment

Police Role with Juveniles

• Warn and Release

• Take the youth into custody and release the juvenile to parents

• Take the youth into custody and refer the juvenile to a diversionary program (Juvenile

• Review Board)

• Take the youth into custody and refer the juvenile to Juvenile Court

• Take the youth into custody and attempt to detain

Circumstances for Taking a Youth into Police Custody

• Pursuant to an order of the Court;

  • Violation of Probation Warrant or Take into Custody Order

• If there are reasonable grounds to believe that the child is suffering from illness or injury and is in immediate danger from his surroundings and that his removal is necessary;

• If there are reasonable grounds to believe that the child has run away from his parents, guardian, or other custodian;

• Pursuant to the laws of arrest;

Police and the Rule of Law

• Police actions are controlled by statute, constitutional case law, and judicial review

• Legal decisions have been made regarding many police procedures, including:

  • Arrest

  • Search and seizure

  • Custodial interrogation

The Arrest Procedure

• Laws of arrest are the same for both juveniles and adults in most states, but broader latitude with kids

• Must have “probable cause”—reasonable grounds to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed that offense; beyond mere suspicion, but less than absolute certainty;

• Once arrested, protections of the Fourth and Fifth

  • Amendments apply:

  • Protection from unreasonable search and seizure (FOURTH)

  • Protection from governmental abuse and right to due process (FIFTH)

Search and Seizure

• Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable search and seizure

• An officer must have a warrant that is issued after a showing of probable cause

• Some warrantless searches are allowed

  • Stop and Frisk- pat-down of outer garments

  • Incident to an arrest- full body search after legal arrest

  • Auto Search- if pc exists, full search of cars and passengers

  • Consent Search

  • Plain view

  • School Lockers

  • Bedroom with parent consent

Custodial Interrogation

Questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person is taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his or her freedom in any significant way, thus requiring that the person be advised of his or her applicable constitutional rights

Miranda warning: Requirement based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision that requires police officers to inform individuals under arrest of their constitutional rights

• To remain silent;

• To counsel;

• That any statements made may be used against them;

• Applies equally to juveniles taken into custody

• It is not clear whether juveniles may waive their Miranda rights

People v. Lara

California case that led to the general rule that juveniles can waive their rights to protection from self-incrimination, but the validity of this waiver is determined by the circumstances of each case

Fare v. Michael C

U.S. Supreme court ruled that a child asking to speak to his probation officer was not the same as asking for an attorney

Cali v. Prysock

U.S. Supreme court held that a Miranda warning to a juvenile that was given in slightly different language and out of context did not invalidate it

Discretionary Justice

Discretion: Use of personal decision-making and choice in carrying out operations in the criminal justice system, such as deciding whether to make an arrest

• Police rely on discretion when dealing with juvenile offenders

• Discretion means that the law is applied differently in similar situations

• The individualized justice of the juvenile justice system results in much use of discretion

• Too much or too little discretion is both problematic

Factors Believed to Shape Police Discretion

• Environmental factors

  • General work environment

  • Customs and practices

  • Peer pressure

• Police Policy

  • Does the department leadership encourage the use of discretion with juveniles — Culture

• Situational factors

  • Demeanor of the juveniles

  • Community attitudes — “tough on crime”

  • Political pressure

  • Offender attitude

Bias and Police Discretion

• Personal characteristics can influence police decisions

• Racial Bias

  • Research yield mixed conclusions

  • Mostly minority youth

Gender Bias and Policed Discretion

• The chivalry hypothesis holds that the police are likely to act paternally towards young girls and not arrest them

• Girls may be more likely to be referred to court for status offenses to protect them more

• Some suggest that police may be more likely to arrest females who violate the officers’ stereotypical view of the female

• Some evidence of the existence of gender bias that is dependent on the offender’s age and the seriousness of the offense

Police and Schools

• Sometimes a conflict between the goals of education and the goals of public safety;

• School Resource Officers play a critical role;

• Significant “rethinking” of “zero tolerance policies” toward students in schools;

• Research demonstrates the negative outcomes that result from “zero tolerance”’

• Schools are being challenged to develop greater use of “in-school” disciplinary programs.

• Restorative Justice

Community Policing Goals: Impact on Juveniles - Reactive to Proactive

• Problem Solving

• Consultation

• Partnerships

• Accountability

The Juvenile Court and Its Jurisdiction

• First established in Illinois in 1899

• Juvenile cases are heard in

  • Criminal Courts

  • Probate courts, aka surrogate courts, or

  • Independent juvenile courts

Courtroom Participants

• Defense Attorney

• Public Defender Service for Children

• Guardian ad litem

• Prosecutor

• Juvenile Court Judge

Detention Centers

Secure pre-trial holding facilities

• Most youths are released to their parents or guardians

• Must be probable cause to detain; a “detention hearing”

Bail

• Most states refuse juveniles the right to bail

• Some grant the right to bail

• Based on “best interests of child” and nor on based on financial considerations

The Intake Process

The screening process during which a juvenile probation officer takes information and makes a decision on how the case should proceed. They may:

• Release the juvenile to home with no further action

• Refer the juvenile to social services

• Petition in juvenile court

• Petition to juvenile court and hold in detention

• Place the juvenile under supervision

• Critical information in the intake process: profile

Diversion

Official halting or suspending of formal juvenile justice proceeding at any legally prescribed processing point after a recorded justice system entry, and referral of that person to a treatment or care program or a recommendation that the person be released

Complaint

A report made by the police or some other agency to the court that initiatesv the intake process

Plea and Plea Bargaining

Less common in juvenile court

Transfer Process

Transfer of a juvenile offender from the jurisdiction of juvenile court to adult criminal court

National Context: The Research

• “Counterproductive strategy for preventing or reducing violence”

• “Increased recidivism, in violent offenders”

Kent v. United States (1966)

A U.S. Supreme Court decision that granted juveniles the right of having an attorney present at a hearing and access to the evidence in the case

Breed v. Jones (1975):

A U.S. Supreme Court decision that prohibits trying juveniles in an adult court when there has been a prior juvenile hearing

Transfer Hearings

Must Provide…

• A legitimate transfer hearing

• Sufficient notice

• Right to counsel

• Statement of the reason for the court order regarding transfer

Arguments against transfer to adult court

• Contributes to the criminalization of the juvenile court

• Interferes with the traditional mission of rehabilitation and treatment of the juvenile justice system

• Little evidence that waiver lowers crime rates

• Juveniles may not be competent to be tried as adults

• Can create long-term harm

• Does not always support the goal of public protection

• Not always fair or equitable

• Corresponds with get tough policy

• Gets violent offenders off the streets

• Reserved for most serious offenses

• Superior to alternative methods for handling the most serious juvenile offenders

• Some kids are not correctable

• Public Safety must come first.

Juvenile Court Trial - The Adjudication

Standard of proof is “beyond a reasonable doubt”

Three types of case resolutions:

• Judge determines that the juvenile is not delinquent

• Judge determines that the juvenile is delinquent

• Judge dismisses the case because of insufficient or faulty evidence

Rights at Trial

• 5th and 14th Amendments

In re Gault

Instilled due process in juvenile proceedings; right to counsel, notice, transcripts; it remains the single most significant constitutional case in the area of juvenile justice

In re Winship

Established the standard of proof in juvenile proceedings as “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the same as in adult proceedings

Mckeiver v. Penn

Held that trial by jury in juvenile cases is not a constitutional requirement

Disposition

The hearing held to determine the “sentence” in juvenile court

• Probation

• Fines

• Community Service

• Etc.

Predisposition report

Used to help the judge determine the best disposition

• Study of the juvenile

  • Family

  • Education

  • Criminal History

  • etc.

Individualized treatment model

Each sentence must be tailored to the individual needs of the child

Juvenile Proceedings

Close hearings, are confidential

Roper v. Simmons

Individuals cannot be put to death for crimes they committed while a juvenile

Graham v. FL

Individuals cannot be given life without parole for crimes committed while they were juveniles that are “non-homicidal”

Miller v. Alabama

Individuals cannot be given life without parole for crimes committed while a juvenile for any offenses

Juvenile Probation

• Non-punitive, legal disposition for juveniles emphasizing community treatment in which the juvenile is closely supervised by an officer of the court and must adhere to a strict set of rules to avoid incarceration

• Main form of community treatment; “most frequently used disposition”

  • For youths who can be supervised in the community, probation represents an appropriate disposition

  • It allows the court to tailor a program to each juvenile offender

  • It combines both rehabilitation and legal control

  • Probation is the disposition of choice, especially for status offenders

Nature of Probation

• Judicial order

• “Contract” between the court and the juvenile

• Ordered for an indefinite period

• Probation “Conditions”:

  • Rules mandating that a juvenile on probation must behave in a particular way

  • If a youth violates any of these conditions, the court can revoke probation

Who administers juvenile probation services?

• Local juvenile court

• State administrative office of courts

• Split between the two in some states

• Statewide office of juvenile probation located in the executive branch

• County executives

Organization of Juvenile Probation

• Chief probation officer

• Assistant chief (s)
  Probation officers

Stages of the court process

• Intake

• Preadjudication

• Post adjudication

• Pre and post disposition

Duties of Juvenile Probation Officers

• Assess juveniles’ risks and needs to develop an accurate profile

• Classify the offender

  • Classification System

    • “Very high risk”

    • “Medium Risk”

• Develop treatment

  • Risk factors

  • Protective factors

• Collateral Contacts

Juvenile Risk Reduction Major Research Findings

Recidivism can be reduced if probation officers do proper assessments and refer juveniles to programs that are directly responsive to the “Big Seven” risk factors. They are:

• Dysfunctional Family

• Substance Abuse

• Anti-Social Attitudes and Values

• Low Self-Control

• Anti-Social Peers

• Callous Personality

• School Failure

Risk factors related to deliquency

• Family

• Peer Group

• School

• Community

• Individual

Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST)

• MST is a community-based, family-driven treatment for antisocial and delinquent youth

  • Goals:

    • Improve parental discipline

    • Increase family attachment

    • Decrease association with deviant peers

    • etc.

MST Research Findings

When compared to juveniles who did not enter MST, but were identical to those who did:

• Reduced rates of recidivism

• Reduced days in out-of-home placements

• Significantly increased school attendance

• Decreased psychiatric symptoms

• Decreased long-term substance abuse

• Improved family functioning

What Works in Juvenile Probation Types

• Control (Largely ineffective)

  • Boot camps

  • Scared Straight

  • Surveillance

• Therapeutic (most effective)

  • Restorative

  • Skill Building

  • Counseling