Juvenile court is a special court that handles cases involving children who have committed crimes or who need the care and protection of society. Most juvenile courts deal with cases of delinquency and neglect. Most delinquency cases involve children who have broken the law or who are difficult to control. Neglect cases involve children whose parents do not or can not care for them properly. Both the United States and Canada have extensive juvenile court systems.
In the United States,
most states include the juvenile court as a division of the main state court or of the county court. Most juvenile courts handle the cases of youths who are under 18 years of age. Other juvenile courts deal with youths only up to age 17. But some serious cases involving children as young as 11 may be transferred to an adult court for trial. Juveniles charged with delinquency may be held in temporary confinement until their cases are heard in court. Juvenile courts generally cannot issue sentences that would confine youths beyond the age of 21.
Before the establishment of juvenile courts, judges tried children for lawbreaking in the same way that they tried adults. Judges sentenced many children to prison.
Juvenile courts were the result of a change in attitudes toward child offenders during the late 1800’s. According to these new attitudes, the juvenile courts were to be places to help, not punish, children. Children were not supposed to experience the harsh atmosphere and treatment often found in adult courts. Instead, trained social workers were to give the judge information on the child’s background. The judge would freely discuss problems with the child, usually in a private hearing. The judge then was supposed to reach a decision based on the child’s best interests. This decision could result in a warning, a fine, probation, or referral or transfer to another agency. The child could be confined in a training school, learning center, or reformatory.
In 1872, Massachusetts became the first state to provide separate court sessions for children. In 1899, Illinois became the first state to authorize separate children’s courts. By 1925, all but two states had juvenile courts.
In 1967, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a landmark decision regarding juvenile courts. In the Gault decision, the court ruled that the private and informal procedures used by juvenile courts had deprived many children of certain rights guaranteed by the Constitution. It ruled that children must be granted these rights, including (1) the right of children and their parents to be given adequate notice of the specific charge; (2) the right to have a lawyer in any case which may result in confinement; (3) the right to question witnesses; and (4) the right to remain silent.
Also in 1967, a special presidential commission reported that juvenile courts had failed in their efforts to decrease juvenile delinquency. Since then, juvenile courts have used an approach much like that used in adult criminal courts. However, there is more emphasis on rehabilitation in the juvenile courts than in the adult correctional system.
In Canada,
a separate, nationwide court system for juvenile offenders was established by the Juvenile Delinquent Acts of 1908. Today, individual provinces have special juvenile courts that operate under the federal Young Offenders Act of 1984. Under this act, youths up to age 18 are treated as juveniles. Children under 12 are freed from any criminal responsibility. Judges may not impose sentences longer than three years, although the combined duration of consecutive sentences may exceed three years. However, judges also have authority to transfer to the adult courts those youths accused of more serious crimes. Juveniles guilty of less serious offenses, such as shoplifting or vandalism, may avoid the court process altogether by participating in such activities as community work, counseling, or repayment of victims.
