Criminal Justice Operations Module Four – Flashcards

established the country's very first juvenile court in Cook County, Illinois. stated that children under the age of twelve were not to be incarcerated, and no child was to be held alongside adult inmates. stated that any child found singing or playing a musical instrument on the street could be labeled dependent or neglected

a landmark United States Supreme Court decision that forever changed the way courts handled juvenile cases. It all started in 1964 when fifteen-year-old Gerald "Jerry" Gault was accused of making an obscene phone call to a neighbor. He was arrested without his parents being notified of the incident. Juvenile court proceedings were very informal at the time. Thus, no one was sworn in at Gault's trial, and the woman who accused the boy of the alleged crime was not present. The judge issued a harsh sentence: Gault was to spend the next six years of his life in juvenile detention.

Runaways and noncriminal offenders may not be detained in juvenile facilities or adult correctional facilities. Juveniles may not be incarcerated in adult facilities except in extreme circumstances. Juvenile offenders who are placed in adult detention facilities (in the few cases in which this is allowed under law) must have sight and sound separation from adult inmates. Under the Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC) provision, each individual state must address the disproportionate number of minority youth in detention centers.

Some juvenile judges began to waive jurisdiction over some juvenile cases on a case-by-case basis

Across the nation, states also began to pass laws mandating that certain types of juvenile offenders be tried in adult courts rather than criminal courts.

a decision made by the prosecutor to try the juvenile as an adult rather than a juvenile.

both the adult and juvenile courts have jurisdiction over juvenile cases.

American Civil Liberties Union

Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice

These are offenses that would not be considered crimes if an adult committed them but are unacceptable for children. Some examples include cutting school, consuming alcohol, and running away from home.

similar to a conviction, but it is less severe. It is simply an acknowledgement by the judge that the juvenile did commit the offense(s) alleged against him or her.

a juvenile who has a greater chance of being rehabilitated than an adult criminal

equivalent of sentencing in an adult court. However, they typically tend to be rehabilitative rather than punitive in nature.

intends to "divert" or redirect the juvenile away from the path to the juvenile courts and back on the right track toward becoming a law-abiding adult.

estimates that law enforcement refers two-thirds of juvenile offenders to the courts. approx. 1 mil cases are heard by juvenile cases per year. 1.6 million juvenile arrests were made in the United States in 2010... This number is actually down 21 percent since 2001.

Juvenile Probation Officer

a facility that houses juveniles during their rehabilitation