The Juvenile Court and Its Jurisdiction

Court Case Flow

The Actors in the Juvenile Courtroom

The Defense Attorney

Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)

Public Defender Services for Children

Guardian ad litem

Public Defender

The Prosecutor

Juvenile Court Judge

Checkpoints

In most jurisdictions, kids are adjudicated within the structure of either a family court or independent juvenile court.

More than 1.6 million delinquency cases are adjudicated annually.

All juveniles must be provided with legal counsel if they face the possibility of incarceration.

A guardian ad litem is an attorney who represents the child during special legal proceedings, including abuse, neglect, and dependency cases.

Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) are volunteers who advise the juvenile court about child placement.

The juvenile prosecutor is the attorney responsible for bringing the state’s case against the accused juvenile.

The juvenile judge must ensure that the children and families who come before the court can receive the proper care and help.

Juvenile Court Process

Release or Detain?

National Detention Trends

Shelter Care

The Decision to Detain

New Approaches to Detention

Restricting Detention in Adult Jails

Removing Status Offenders

Focus on Preventing and Treating Delinquency: the Detention Diversion Advocacy Program

Bail for Children

Preventive Detention

The Intake Process

Diversion

Juvenile Law in Review: Schall v. Martin

Issues in Diversion: Widening the Net

The Petition

Complaint

The Plea and Plea-Bargaining

Checkpoints

One of the most important alternatives chosen at intake is nonjudicial disposition, or as it is most commonly called, diversion.

The petition is the formal complaint that initiates judicial action against a juvenile charged with delinquency or a status offense.

One of the most important alternatives chosen at intake is nonjudicial disposition, or as it is most commonly called, diversion.

The petition is the formal complaint that initiates judicial action against a juvenile charged with delinquency or a status offense.

Detention is the temporary care of children by the state in physically restrictive facilities pending court disposition or transfer to another agency.

The federal government has encouraged the removal of status offenders from detention facilities that also house juvenile delinquents; it has encouraged the removal of delinquents from adult jails.

Racial minorities are over-represented in detention.

Experts maintain that detention facilities should provide youth with treatment, such as education, counseling, and health care.

Intake refers to the screening of cases by the juvenile court system to determine whether the services of the juvenile court are needed.

Transfer to the Adult Court

Waiver Procedures

Transfer Process

Due Process in Transfer Proceedings

Juvenile Law in Review

Kent v. United States and Breed v. Jones

Should Youths Be Transferred to Adult Court?

In Support of Waiver

Juvenile Court Trial

Constitutional Rights at Trial

Due Process

Disposition

The Predisposition Report

Juvenile Court Dispositions

Juvenile Law in Review: In re Gault

Juvenile Sentencing Structures

Least Detrimental Alternative

Indeterminate Sentencing

Determinate Sentence

Mandatory Sentences

Sentencing Reform

Blended Sentences

The Death Penalty for Juveniles

Legal Issues

Checkpoints

A high percentage of juvenile offenders enter guilty pleas; that is, they admit to the facts of the petition before a trial takes place.

The waiver process involves transferring juveniles from juvenile to criminal court, where they are tried as adults.

Most juvenile courts have bifurcated hearings – that is, separate hearings for adjudication and disposition.

Whereas adults are entitled to public trials by a jury of their peers, these rights are not extended to juveniles.

In re Gault is the key legal case that set out the basic requirements of due process that must be satisfied in juvenile court proceedings.

The major categories of dispositional choice in juvenile cases re community release, out-of-home placements, fines or restitution, community service, and institutionalization.

Most states use the indeterminate sentence in juvenile court.

States have passed laws creating mandatory sentences for serious juvenile offenders.

The Supreme Court has ruled that states are free to impose the death penalty for murderers who committed their crimes after they reached age sixteen or seventeen.

Juvenile Court Trial

The Child’s Right to Appeal

Final Order

Appellate Process

Writ of habeus corpus

Confidentiality in Juvenile Proceedings

Open Versus Closed Hearings

Privacy of Juvenile Records