JUVENILE JUSTICEin todays society

Tracy Crowl, Ashley Dylik, Kelsey Jaffe, James O’Donnell, and Brandon Prate

WHO ARE THESE KIDS?

In 2003 – 2.2 Million juveniles were arrested.Property crimes Assault Property crimes

71% males

Majority 16-17 years old

200,000 drug offenses

HISTORYHouse of Refuge

Reform School

First Opened

MORRIS KENT

First in at age 142 years later arrested againTaken for psychiatric examinationTried in criminal court as adult

MCLEAN COUNTY JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER – NORMAL, IL

1 of 14 institutions in Illinois

26 beds

Serves Mclean, Logan, Livingston, Dewitt and Woodford Counties

Small staff – administrative staff also trained as correctional officers

AFTER ARREST Youth is removed from police vehicle and led to intake room.

Handcuffs then shoes, belt, and other personal belongings are removed and they are patted down then examined with a metal detector

General information and mental health/substance abuse exams are obtained and conducted (if available)

– Mclean County goes back and fourth from having funding for a professional

Uniforms are distributed– In Mclean County, uniforms are colored by sizes

in Mclean County, a juvenile is detained based off a score given during intake. Higher scores get detained and juveniles with lower scores are sent home.

-Factors: their victims (child or old), parole, amount of charges

DAILY LIFE

Monday-Friday: juveniles are woken up at 8am for breakfast.

School – includes classes, gym , lunch , an elective (art, substance abuse groups, life skills) ends around 4:30pm.

Dinner is served, free time for 1 hour, showers, then bed

Each juvenile is given an A each morning. Grades are based upon their attitude and participation in activities throughout the day. -More consecutive A’s = more privileges (Wii time, stamps, etc.)

VISITATION

Only parents/legal guardians can visit

Siblings under 9 and over 21 can visit

Local church members (pastors, youth pastors, etc.) are regularly scheduled to meet with juveniles

DETERRENCE

Good TV Bad Results

No Funding

Personal Experience

Other methods of deterrence

WHAT IS DETENTION?

Detention- A form of locked custody of youth pre-trial who are arrested—juvenile detention centers are the juvenile justice system’s version of “jail,” in which most young people are being held before the court has judged them delinquent. Some youth in detention are there because they fail the conditions of their probation or parole, or they may be waiting in detention before their final disposition (i.e. sentence to a community program, or juvenile correctional facility).

THE PROS

Juvenile detention centers can help adolescents, even those who are repeat offenders, turn their lives around before they commit crimes as adults and wind up in prison.

Well-run juvenile detention centers help adolescents develop insight, change their behavior and develop goals for themselves that they can pursue when they are released.

The best-run centers have employees who can serve as role models, showing teens that they have choices in their lives.

THE PROS CONTINUED

Another purpose of a juvenile detention center is to provide programs and remediation for the youths who are detained.

Programs such as individual and group counseling and optional religious services are offered. Girl Scouts, victim's awareness, family responsibilities, career planning and work programs are among the activities offered at the juvenile detention center in Guadalupe Parkway, San Jose, California

THE CONS

Some of the main problems that juvenile institutions run into include things such as:– Not having enough space/room for the

amount of juveniles.– Things like rape and false accusations.– Overuse of detention. (most victims

haven’t committed serious crimes)

THE CONS CONTINUED

Detention can increase recidivism.

Congregating delinquent youth together negatively affects their behavior and increases their chance of re-offending

Detention is believed to pull youth deeper into the juvenile and criminal justice system

PRIVATE VS. GOVERNMENT OWNED INSTITUTIONS

Is there anything that is different between either?

Why do you think that there might be a bias and uncertainty on the topic of private owned juvenile institutions?

TYPES OF CASES IN JUVENILE COURT

Dependency

Delinquency

Termination of Parental Rights

Emancipation

Expunction

BANNING LIFE SENTENCES FOR MINORS

Killed 15-Year-Old Girlfriend

Life without Parole

Supreme Court banned mandatory life sentences without parole

Resentencing

WHO DID WHATBrutally attacked his own father, stabbed him repeatedly with a knife, and pled guilty to charges of attempted murder

He was a “Frequent Flyer” in the juvenile system and has 7 theft related offences on his record.

He took part in a violent fight, allegedly gang-related, in which one person was killed and another injured.

Took part on assault on a neighborhood family, which one was pregnant.

WHO WAS TRIED AS AN ADULT?

JOSE AND MANNY

Brutally attacked his own father, stabbed him repeatedly with a

knife, and pled guilty to charges of attempted murder

Took part on assault on a neighborhood family, which one

was pregnant.

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?

Charged with Auto-Theft and Residential burglary

Tried in a juvenile court with attempted murder, sentence was considered too lenient.

TEST QUESTIONS

1- True or False?The Administrative staff at the Mclean county juvenile detention center also serve as correctional officers.

2- before cook county opened the first juvenile detention center in 1899, what was used to house juvenile offenders.

ANSWERS

1- True or False?The Administrative staff at the Mclean county juvenile detention center also serve as correctional officers.

TRUE

2-before cook county opened the first juvenile detention center in 1899, what was used to house juvenile offenders.

Houses of refuge