Chapter Thirteen

Juvenile Court Process: Pretrial, Trial, and Sentencing

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should:

1. Understand the roles and responsibilities of the main players in the juvenile court.
2. Be able to discuss key issues of the pre-adjudicatory stage of juvenile justice,
including detention, intake, diversion, pretrial release, plea bargaining, and
waiver.
3. Be able to argue the pros and cons of transferring youths to adult court.
4. Understand key issues of the trial stage of juvenile justice, including
constitutional rights of youths and disposition.
5. Be familiar with major U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have influenced the
handling of juveniles at the pre-adjudicatory and trial stages.
6. Know the most common dispositions for juvenile offenders.
7. Be able to argue the pros and cons of confidentiality in juvenile proceedings and
privacy of juvenile records.

Chapter Outline

I. The Juvenile Court and Its Jurisdiction

A. Today’s juvenile delinquency cases are sometimes handled as part of a criminal
trial, court jurisdiction, or within the probate court
B. In most jurisdictions they are treated in the structure of family court or an
independent juvenile court
C. The independent juvenile court is a specialized court for children, designed to
promote rehabilitation of youth
D. Juvenile court is concerned with acting in the best interest of the child and in the
best interest of public protection

II. Court Case Flow

A. In 2005, almost 1.7 million delinquency cases were referred to juvenile court
B. A recent decline have been characterized as a downward trend, this represents a 9
percent decrease from the peak year of 1997
C. In 2005, 73% of delinquency cases involved a male and 27% a female
D. Similarly, 33 percent of the juvenile court population was made up of African
American youth, although African American youth make up only 17% of the
general population
E. The Actors in the Juvenile Courtroom
1. The Defense Attorney represents the child in the juvenile court, plays an
active and important role in all stages of the proceedings
2. Guardian ad litem may be appointed by the court, fulfills many roles,

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 ranging from legal advocate to concerned individual working with parents
and human service professionals
3. Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) are volunteers who advise
the court about child placement
4. Public Defender Services for Children: an attorney who works in a public
agency or contractual agreement as defense counsel to indigent defendants
5. Juvenile Prosecutor representing the interest of the state and brining the
case against the accused juvenile
a) A number of states have passed legislation giving prosecutors
control over intake and waiver decisions
b) Some states have passed concurrent jurisdiction laws that allow
prosecutors to decide in which court to bring serious juvenile cases
c) In some jurisdictions it is prosecutor who is entrusted with the
decision of whether to waive a case to adult court
d) Prosecutors have broad discretion
6. The Juvenile Court Judge is the central character in the court,
responsibilities have become more extensive and complex in recent years
a) Judges have extensive influence over other agencies of the court:
(1) Probation
(2) The Court Clerk
(3) The Law Enforcement Officer
(4) Office of the Juvenile Prosecutor
b) According to the parens patriae philosophy, judges must ensure
that the necessary community resources are available so children
and families can receive the proper care and help

III. Juvenile Court Process

A. Release or Detain
1. After the decision is made to treat the case formally, a decision must be
made to either release the child or detain in the temporary care of the state.
2. Detention can be a traumatic experience, facilities are prison-like, locked
doors and barred windows
3. Experts advocate that detention be limited to alleged offenders who
require secure custody for the protection of themselves and others
4. Ongoing efforts have been made to remove status offenders, neglected or
abused children, foster care youths from detention facilities that also house
delinquents
5. Alternatives have been suggested, these are called shelter care, which
provide temporary care in physically unrestricting facilities
B. National Detention Trends
1. Juveniles are still being detained in just one out of every five delinquency
cases, (21 percent), with some variation across the major offense
categories
2. Typical delinquent detainee is male, over sixteen years of age, and
charged with a violent crime
3. Typical status offense detainee is female, under sixteen years of age, and

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 charged with liquor law violation
4. Racial minorities are heavily overrepresented in detention, especially the
indigent, and families receiving public assistance
C. New Approaches to Detention
1. Efforts have been ongoing to improve the process and conditions of
detention
2. Experts maintain that detention facilities should provide youth with
education, visitation, private communications, counseling, continuous
supervision, medical and health care, nutrition, recreation, and reading.
3. Detention should be reserved for youths who present a clear threat to the
community
4. Alternatives to secure detention include:
a) Home monitoring
b) Home detention
c) Day-center electronic monitoring
d) High-intensity community supervision, and
e) Comprehensive case management programs
D. Restricting Detention in Adult Jails
1. A significant problem in juvenile justice is placing youths in adult jails
2. Experts agree that placing children under the age of eighteen in any type
of jail facility should be prohibited, youngsters can be victimized, forced
to live in squalid conditions, and subject to physical and sexual abuse
3. In 1989, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act was
amended to require that states remove all juveniles from adult jails and
lockups
4. Federal guidelines require that juveniles in state custody be separated from
adult offenders or the state could lose federal juvenile justice funds
E. Removing Status Offenders
1. OJJDP has made deinstitutionalization of status offenders a cornerstone
of its policy
F. Bail for Children
1. Most states refuse juveniles the right to bail
2. Juvenile proceedings are intended to be civil, not criminal, and detention
is rehabilitative, children are released into parental custody
3. U.S. Supreme Court has never decided the issue of juvenile bail
G. Preventive Detention
1. U.S. Supreme Court has concluded that the state has a right to detain
dangerous youth until their trial, the practice is called preventive detention
2. The practice remains highly controversial since it may attach a stigma of
guilt to a child presumed innocent
H. The Intake Process
1. Refers to the screening of cases by the juvenile court system, enables
assistance from community agencies without court intervention
2. A juvenile referral is received and a decision made to file a petition or
release the juvenile, or place under supervision, or refer elsewhere
3. Allows courts to enter a consent decree, authorizing disposition of the case

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 without a formal label of delinquency
I. Diversion
1. One of the most important alternatives
2. Youth is placed into treatment programs prior to formal trial and
disposition to minimize their penetration into the justice system
3. Avoids stigma and labeling
4. Encourages individual to participate in specific program or activity to
avoid further prosecution, non-punitive treatment services
5. Criteria: first offender, nonviolent, being drug or alcohol dependent, used
to select juveniles
J. The Petition
1. Report made by the police or some other agency to the court that initiates
the intake process
K. The Plea and Plea Bargaining
1. Permits a defendant to plead guilty to a less-serious charge, in exchange
for an agreement by the prosecutor to recommend a reduced sentence t the
court
2. Long debate over the appropriateness of plea bargaining in juvenile justice
3. Less common in juvenile courts than in adult courts, however it is firmly
entrenched in the juvenile process

IV. Transfer to the Adult Court

A. Transfer process: transferring a juvenile offender from the jurisdiction of juvenile
court to adult criminal court, also known as waiver, bind over or removal
1. Numbers have actually declined since they peaked in 1994
B. Waiver Procedures, one of three ways:
1. Concurrent jurisdiction
2. Statutory exclusion policies
3. Judicial waiver
C. Due Process in Transfer Proceedings
1. The standards for transfers are set by state statute
2. The trend toward excluding serious violent offenses from juvenile court
jurisdictions grew in response to the demand to get tough on crime
3. Prosecutor discretion may occasionally be a more effective transfer
mechanism than the waiver process
D. Should Youths Be Transferred to Adult Court?
1. Most experts oppose waiver because it clashes with the rehabilitative ideal
2. Waiver has advanced the criminalization of the juvenile court rather than
on the rehabilitative needs of the child
3. It has interfered with the traditional mission of treatment and rehabilitation
4. Not one of the studies found that transfers produced lower violent crime
rates or reduction in arrest rates
5. Task Force on Community Preventive Services concluded that transferring
juvenile offenders is “counterproductive” for the purpose of reducing
juvenile violence and enhancing public safety

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V. Juvenile Court Trial
A. An adjudication hearing is held to determine the merits of the petition
1. Adjudication hearing is comparable to an adult trial
2. Case is resolved in one of three ways:
a) Judge makes a finding of fact that the child or juvenile is not
delinquent or in need of supervision
b) Judge makes a finding that the child or juvenile is delinquent or in
need of supervision
c) Judge dismisses the case because of insufficient or faulty evidence
3. Delinquency finding is not the same thing as a criminal conviction
B. Constitutional Rights at Trial
1. Due Process must be satisfied in juvenile court proceedings
2. Gault remains the key constitutional case in the juvenile justice system,
reshaped the constitutional and philosophical nature of the juvenile court,
made is more similar to the adult system
3. In re Winship, “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard of proof is required
in juvenile delinquency adjudication hearings, a level equal to the
requirements in adult system
C. Disposition: the sentencing step of the juvenile justice process
1. The court orders treatment that is in the best interests of the child
2. Adjudication and disposition hearings are bifurcated
3. Disposition have been based on the presumed needs of the child, judges
employ graduated sanctions for juveniles
a) Immediate sanctions - nonviolent offenders, community diversion,
day treatment
b) Intermediate sanctions – target repeat minor offenders
c) Secure care – reserved for repeat serious offenders and violent
offenders
4. Probation is the disposition of choice, even in serious cases and it has
grown in recent years
5. Most states and courts insist that the purpose must be rehabilitation and
not punishment
D. Juvenile Sentencing Structures
1. Practice has been to place children on the least detrimental alternative in
order to foster the child’s growth and development
2. Indeterminate sentence used traditionally in many states
3. Other states have passed laws creating mandatory sentences for serious
juvenile offenders
E. Sentencing Reform
1. State of Washington’s Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1977, created a
mandatory sentencing policy requiring juveniles ages eight to seventeen to
be confined to an institution for a minimum time.
2. Punishment to be commensurate with age, crime, and prior history, this is
known as the principle of proportionality
F. The Death Penalty for Juveniles

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 1. In March 2005, U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Roper v. Simmons, put
an end to the practice of the death penalty for juveniles in the United
States
2. The Court ruled the juvenile death penalty was in violation of the Eighth
Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment
3. At least 366 juvenile offenders have been executed since 1642
G. Life without Parole for Juveniles
1. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch estimate that there are
about 2,225 prisoners sentenced to life
2. About 356 of them were between 13 and 15 years old at the time they
committed their crimes
3. It is estimated that just over one hundred prisoners committed non-
homicide crimes
4. Florida accounts for the overwhelming majority of these offenders
H. The Child’s Right to Appeal
1. Juvenile courts normally restrict appeals to cases where the juvenile seeks
review of a final order, one that ends litigation
2. The appellate process gives the juvenile the opportunity to have the case
brought before a reviewing court
3. Appellate review of a juvenile case is a matter of statutory right in each
jurisdiction
4. Majority of states do provide some method of statutory appeal
5. Writ of habeas corpus refers to a procedure for determining the validity of
a person’s custody, it is used to challenge the custody of a child in
detention or in an institution
I. Confidentiality in Juvenile Proceedings
1. Has received attention in recent years, open versus closed hearings, and
privacy of juvenile records
2. Many legislatures have broadened access to juvenile records
3. Supreme Court claimed that the juvenile’s interest in confidentiality was
secondary to the constitutional right to confront adverse witnesses
4. Privacy of Juvenile Records: can be opened by court order in many
jurisdictions on the basis of statutory exception
a) Law enforcement personnel, the child’s attorney, parents or
guardians, military personnel, public agencies such as schools,
court-related organizations, and correctional institutions can gain
access to the records

VI. Future of the Juvenile Court

A. Over the years the juvenile court has taken on more characteristics of the adult
courts
B. Treatment programs provided by the modern juvenile court play a central role in
society’s response to the most serious delinquents
C. Juvenile courts must ensure that these programs are indeed effective, including:

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 1. Awareness of up-to-date scientific evidence of effectiveness of court
based programs,
2. Diversion of cases that can be handled informally outside of the system,
3. Disposition of cases to appropriate programs, and
4. Quality control
D. Juvenile court needs to be guided by a core set of rational and science-based
principles such as “systematic assessments of culpability and treatment needs and
a consistent balancing of punishment and treatment”

Lecture Notes

This chapter discusses the roles and responsibilities of the main actors in the juvenile court
process. Prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys are the key players and they play an
important and active role during the different stages of the proceedings. Many decisions
regarding the juveniles’ rehabilitation process occur during the preadjudicatory stage of juvenile
justice. The juvenile justice courts are less adversarial than the criminal courts, and the intent is
to help and treat the juvenile offenders rather than merely punish them. Numerous jurisdictions
use diversion programs and these seem to be effective; they provide support for the change in the
juvenile’s behavior and control of delinquency. Other jurisdictions use plea bargaining, although
this appears to be controversial in the administration of juvenile justice.

Due to the seriousness of their crimes, thousands of youths are transferred to adult courts. Many
of the experts oppose waiver since it is contrary to the rehabilitation intent of the juvenile justice
model. The opposing view however, suggests that it can help violent juvenile offenders. The
transfer is reserved for the most serious and in many cases violent offenders, the number of
transfers has declined significantly in recent years.

Juveniles have the same constitutional rights given to the adults in the criminal justice process,
the right to an attorney, right to confront and cross-examine witnesses, not to self-incriminate,
but not the right to a trial by jury. The standard of proof to demonstrate guilt is beyond a
reasonable doubt similar to the adult criminal court. Court proceedings are typically closed to
the public and records are kept confidential for the most part. This is typically done to protect
the child and provide greater opportunity for rehabilitation.

In March 2005, the Supreme Court put an end to the practice of the death penalty for juveniles in
the United States. The court ruled that the death penalty was in violation of the Eighth
Amendment’s ban to cruel and unusual punishment. Many of the arguments used then are now
being used to end the life without parole for juveniles. The diminished responsibility standard
should be applicable as well as the capacity for the young to change, grow, and rehabilitate.
The most common dispositions for juvenile offenders continue to be probation. The other major
categories include community release, out-of-home placements, fines, or restitution, community
service, and institutionalization. Judges are encouraged to consider the least restrictive
alternative.

Class Discussion/Activities

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1. Discuss the pros and cons of the death penalty. Ask students if they agree with the recent
decision of the Supreme Court to abolish the death penalty for juvenile offenders.

2. The Supreme Court will soon be making a decision regarding the Life without Parole for
Juvenile offenders. What arguments might you make to abolish this sentence? Should the
standard of diminished responsibility be applicable to Life without Parole for juvenile
offenders?

3. Discuss the transfer of juveniles to adult prisons; what arguments might you make to
support rehabilitation contrary to punishment? How might you get the public to get a
better understanding of the implications of this type of punishment?

Assignments

1. Research diversion programs used for juvenile offenders in your community, city or state.

2. Locate your state corrections website and research the number of juvenile offenders that
have been sentenced as adults in your state. Do you have juveniles sentenced to life
without parole? Identify the demographics of these offenders, gender, race, age, and
criminal charges.

3. Invite a local juvenile justice judge to speak to your class.

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