A History of the Juvenile Justice System

The Nutshell Version, Anyhow

Two Central Issues

1. Why should kids who commit crimes be treated any differently than adults?

• At what age does a kid cease to become a “kid?”

2. If kids should be treated differently, how should they be treated?

Pre-Middle Ages

• Code of Hammurabi (2270 b.c.)• Other Examples

– Roman civil and church law– Ancient Jewish and Moslem laws

Middle Ages (500-1500ad)

• Roman criminal law codified in the “Twelve Tables”– Eventually, under the “Justinian Code”

• 0-7 Years = not criminally responsible• 7-12/14 = know right from wrong?• >12/14 = adult

• English common law emerges (1000-1100ad)– Early common law = “too young for punishment” – By 1500s, common law adopts scheme similar to

Justinian code

Middle Ages II

• English Common Law– 0 to 7 = not criminally responsible– 7-14 = burden on state to demonstrate that

the child:• Formed criminal intent• Understood consequences of their actions• Knew right from wrong

• Concept of Parens Patriae develops – Civil law, King as “parent of country”

England 1500-1700

• Statute of Artificers (1562) and Poor Laws (1602)– Children of paupers apprenticed

• Punishment of criminal children still similar to adults– Corporal/public, banishment, galley slavery

• Bridewell Workhouse (London, 1557)– Precursor to prisons, idea = “reform through labor”– Mostly for “idle”/”disorderly”

Colonial America

• Until the late 1700sEnglish Common Law– Prison uncommon, many children found

“innocent” to spare them corporal punishment

U.S. 1775-1825

1. The Industrial Revolution2. The Birth of the Penitentiary 3. “Gentleman Reformers”

Result of these trends: Houses of Refuge– Ex Parte Crouse (1839)

And later, “Industrial” and “Reform” schools– People ex rel. O’Connell V. Turner (1870)

The “Child Saving Movement”

• Child Savers disgruntled with “child prisons” – Deep mistrust of “the city” and immigrants

• Advocated rural “Cottage Style” housing• Helped to “place out” city kids to farm families

Progressive Era (1900-1930)

• The Progressives– Optimists + Faith in Government

• General = sanitation, poverty, unsafe labor…• Juveniles = compulsory education, helped shape

juvenile justice system

The Juvenile Court Movement• First Juvenile Court in Illinois (1899)

– Quasi-civil nature of court • Parens Patriae = act in best interest of child using non-

criminal procedures• No “special wrong” necessary

– Characteristics• Informal, closed proceedings with sealed records• Medical model of “diagnosing” social ills• Age = 15 years and younger• Probation Officers to investigate and rehabilitate

J.C. Spreads (1900-1950)

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1899 1905 1909 1927 1950

Innovation and Stability• Juvenile Courts Spread, but differences emerged

– Some states require procedures similar to criminal court, others courts grant judge complete discretion to “follow conscience”

• Discretion/Informality becomes key issue– Good?– Bad?

• By the 1950s, many juvenile courts are “bureaucratic and burdened”

Winds of Change 1960-1975

• Social Context of this Period Crucial– Viet Nam, Kent State, Attica, Watergate…– Increase in crime, divorce, single parents…– Youth flaunting morals of prior generation

• Ideological Responses – Conservatives?– Liberals/Progressives?

Strange Bedfellows• Conservatives and Liberals largely agree on policy

Issues– In both adult and juvenile system, discretion should be limited– Juveniles should be granted due process rights

• Differences?– Conservatives treat juveniles more like adults, punishment

works– Liberals most juveniles should be diverted from the system,

short sentences for those that aren’t

Constitutional Domestication

• Kent vs. United States (1961)• In Re Gault (1967)• In Re Winship (1970)• Breed v. Jones (1975)

• Justice Stewarts Dissent Opinion in Gault

From Cox et. al (Your Book)

• “Legalists”• “Case Workers” (Social Work)

OJJDP and DSO • 1967 President Johnson’s “Commission on Law

Enforcement and Administration of Justice.” • 1974 Congress enacts “Juveniel Justice and

Delinquency Prevention Act.” – Creation of OJJDP– Decriminalization, Deinstitutionalization, elimination of court

authority over status offenders

• Mass. “deinstitutionalization” experiment

Getting “Tough” 1980-2000

• Backlash against diversion, labeling theory – Political Rhetoric “get tough on juveniles”– National “war on drugs”– 1984 National Advisory Committee for

Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention

How have we gotten “tough?”

• Legislative Policy– Juvenile Wavier, Statutory Exclusion– Lower upper age limit of jurisdiction– Sentencing (Blended, mandatory minimum)– Confidentiality, records in adult courts

• Types of Punishment– Boot Camps, ISP, Electronic Monitoring

Where is policy now

• Crime in general is not “high profile” issue• OJJDP 1993 Comprehensive Strategy• Barry Feld’s “Criminological triage”

Research For Debates and Papers

• I Expect evidence from academic sources– Journal articles, academic books

• Searching for articles/books– Get references from books or articles– Government reports (OJJDP, NCJRS…)– Search

• Criminal Justice Abstracts• Sage journals search (full text)• Journal of Crime and Delinquency (full text)