EXERCISE 5: TEAM C
Robin Lawyer
Latesha Green
Lindsay Moran
Ryan Carey
Kevin Malooly
Melissa Damewood
Some people argue that the juvenile justice system is too soft of
offenders today. However, this is not the case. The juvenile justice
system has a history of being tough on it's juvenile offenders. From the
initial arrest to the court decision, the whole process is tough but
fair. Juveniles are both rehabilitated and punished. A program such as
the Illinois Juvenile Justice Reform Act is just one of the many
examples of programs designed to remain tough on juveniles. It is
important to be hard on the repeat offenders as well as tough on first
time offenders. The system works well at accomplishing both.
The question of why children commit crimes is one that has been asked
many times. Our text book is full of theories that try to come up with
an answer. The one that I feel hits closest to the mark is David Matza
with Social Control theory. On page 173 of our text Matza's argument is
laid out. He says that criminal children are just like other kids who
are non delinquents. The difference is that they are a part of a culture
that promotes bad behavior. He even says that delinquents know what they
are doing is wrong, but they do it anyway to conform to the expectations
of the group of which they are a part. To deal with their feelings of
guilt Matza says they use 5 techniques of neutralization. These are;
denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of victim,
condemnation of condemners and appeal to a higher loyalty.
This theory makes perfect sense. I say this because kids tend to emulate
what they see in the people around them. How often have you heard
parents say that their kid went bad after he/she started to hang with a
bad crowd? Because this theory makes sense does not mean that it has to
be the only reason. Criminologists like to think that their new theory
will finally answer all questions about crime and delinquency.
Fortunately we are observant enough to see that there are many reasons
behind delinquency and that just about every theory can play a part. I
think that in order for a child to become delinquent many aspects must
be present. The two main things are probably a lack of moral clarity
from their family and access to a group of youths who partake in
delinquent behavior. Their main motivation whether as first time or
repeated offenders, is to fit in with their group.
In the past, juvenile courts acted in a way that was in the best
interest of
the child. They have now moved onto more punitive sanctions making them
much more similar to adult criminal courts. This is only for the benefit
of
the juvenile. The court system wasn't working when they were operating
under the best interest of the child, so they had to change their ways.
This way seems to be working out much better is more effective. The
courts
are also much more interested in victim's rights. "Twenty-nine states
have
passed constitutional amendments for victims' rights, including
notification, input, restitution, and protection."
("http://www.ojp.gov/ovc/publications/bulletins/vjj_10_2000_2/vjj_back.html")
Juvenile court judges have an extensive amount of training in the
juvenile
court system. They also have an enormous amount of discretion in the
nature
of juvenile cases, almost as much as the discretion judges had in the
1970's
in adult criminal settings. The main goal for both juvenile courts and
adult criminal courts is to reduce recidivism rates and make the world a
safer place. Judges and the courts are just doing their job in order for
this to happen.
Many states have organizations that try to prevent juvenile crime and
delinquency before it happens. For instance, the state of North Carolina
has
established a Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
They have several programs in place designed to reach at risk/ troubled
youths before they turn to a life of crime. One program is the
Governor's
One on One program. This is designed to pair adult professionals with
troubled young people. The goal of this program is to mentor the young
person and help establish some basic career and educational goals.
Another
program is called the SOS (Save Our Students) Program. This "is a
community
based after-school initiative that provides support and guidance to
young
people by involving them in constructive activities to keep them focused
and
out of trouble". This program includes volunteer adults who help kids
with
homework, organize clubs, and athletic activities. Another program the
Teen
Court Program. The "Teen Court is a diversion program for minor Juvenile
Court offenders. There are currently 32 teen court programs in the state
in
which adult volunteers train youth volunteers to act as officials of the
court who hear complaints and determine appropriate sanctions for peers
who
have admitted to violation of the law. Professional adult staff provides
supervision of the court proceedings and any subsequent imposition of
community service or restitution". It is designed to introduce juveniles
to
the justice system and free up the juvenile court to handle more serious
offences.
People can argue that the state is going to easy on the youths that are
involved with crime, but when we look at some of the punishments that
they are actually receiving, we see that the state has not gone "soft"
Illinois, for example uses "Blended Sentencing"
The Illinois Juvenile Justice Reform Act introduced "blended sentencing"
or "extended jurisdiction juvenile" (EJJ) into the state. EJJ allows the
court to impose both a juvenile and an adult sentence on a juvenile. The
adult sentence is suspended and may be imposed only if the juvenile
violates the terms of the juvenile sentence or commits a new offense.
The juveniles who are experiencing this act first hand are experiencing
how people are really treated when they receive punishment. They are not
treated softly and they can see the justice system means business.
There have been many instances where the police have treated juveniles
too harsh. Police misconduct among teens is becoming more and more
common. There have been reports of slaps, kicks, chokes, punches, hits
with nightsticks and flashlights. They have also been verbal abuse from
cops towards teens, such as name calling, foul language including racial
and ethnic slurs. Some believe that teens are beyond help and that they
are time bombs waiting to go off. But that is why there have been so
many intervention programs that many police stations across the country
had implemented. The law enforcement tends to feel that there is a
nationwide crackdown or "get tough on juvenile crime" programs, is what
our society needs. Whereas all they are doing is locking more and more
youth up in prisons. According to many law enforcement offices there is
a belief that it is society's duty to punish, not rehabilitate and boot
camps, life terms and even executions, in extreme cases are the way to
handle these teens. That leads us to the notion of most all states are
currently prosecuting juveniles as adults. Many states allow kids at age
14 to be tried as an adult. One state actually allows 10 year olds to be
prosecuted as an adult. This all starts with the relationship the child
has with the police. 45 states have amended legislation to make it
easier to prosecute kids as adults for a wide range or charges. More
than one million Americans under 18 years old have been processed
through the juvenile justice systems each year. This is entirely too
much. Sources show that there is a continuation tendency to lock up more
troubled or at risk teens. The United States locks up more teens than
any other modern nation in the world. Police officers of this generation
have programs such as the Community Juvenile Diversion Programs, which
are for first time offenders of a minor crime, but still seem to not
help officers have a positive relationship with our youth. Most young
offenders are status offenders and are runaways, truant or are involved
in illegal behavior that's only illegal because of their age. The police
need to show kids by helping to mold our youth through discipline, goal
setting and mentorship and not treating them as violent teens or
punishing them like adults. They need to establish positive
relationships between them and the youth by communicating, role modeling
and positive interaction. A positive relationship among law enforcers
and at risk juveniles can easily be put into practice by showing the
young people that they are accountable for their own actions and that
crime will not be tolerated, while providing immediate intervention and
preventing the minor from testing the system with repeated chances for
offenses, all while treating the juveniles with respect and recognizing
that they are children who have most likely been a product of their
environment and are seeking for a change of pace, but just went about it
the wrong way.
Juveniles are offered much of the same rights and undergo much of the
same
steps that adult offenders go through during processing. Beginning at
the
earliest stage, arrest, police officers must have probable cause in
order to
make the arrest. According to Regoli and Hewitt, in a misdemeanor case,
police may make an arrest only after personally witnessing the crime
being
committed. However, in felony cases, police may make an arrest either by
witnessing the crime taking place or by having the knowledge that the
felony
crime has taken place and the probable cause that the person being
arrested
has committed it. Juveniles are not treated any differently than adults
in
the arrest stage of processing, therefore the juvenile justice system is
not
to soft on crime.
The next stage in processing according to Regoli and Hewitt is booking.
During this stage, an official record is taken of the person being
arrested.
In addition, differences do exist in this stage between the booking of
adults and juveniles. While the stages of adult booking include the
taking
of fingerprints, photographs, writing samples, voice samples, and blood
samples, children do not undergo all of these stages. Children in the
booking stage of processing through the criminal justice system are
usually
not photographed and fingerprinted. They may only be photographed and
fingerprinted for use of identification purposes and through a court
order.
In addition, while an adult's records are permanent, a juvenile's
records
may be destroyed upon the completion of a case or when the child comes
of
age. While there is a difference in the booking procedures between
adults
and juveniles, the process of booking is not too soft on children
because
there seems to be more of a focus on the rehabilitation of juvenile
offenders rather than punishment. The destruction of a juvenile's record
helps to show a juvenile that they will get to start over again with a
clean
slate, and once again have the chance to make things right by being a
contributing member of our society.
The next stage in the pre-sentencing processing of juveniles is the
interrogation stage. There is a slight difference in the stage of
interrogation between the processing of adult offenders versus juvenile
offenders. As the case with adults, juveniles have the right to remain
silent. They are not required to self incriminate. In addition, juvenile
offenders have the right to have an attorney present and one will be
provided if the youth cannot afford one. The difference between adult
and
juvenile offenders remains in the juveniles right to waive their rights
if
they so desire. Juvenile offenders may waive their rights after the
totality of the circumstances in the case have been evaluated and it is
decided by the courts that a child may waive their rights.
Characteristics
that help to determine if a child may waive their rights include an
examination of the child's age, education, and the circumstances of the
case. Once again, due to the similarities in the interrogation process
of
juveniles to adults, it can be argued that the juvenile justice system
is
not too soft on crime.
Few differences exist between the processing of juveniles and adults in
police lineups as well. Both adults and juveniles have the right to
counsel
and both are afforded due process rights. Regoli and Hewitt state that a
difference that remains is the police's ability to apprehend juveniles
on a much wider range of violations. In this instance, a police officer's
discretion determines how soft the juvenile justice system is going to
be on the processing of juvenile offenders.
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