Mallory Collins

ENG 112

Mrs. Carrol

9 April 2020

Juvenile Justice System Development

In the American Criminal Justice System there is a separate division that juveniles are processed

through and that they receive their sentencing through. This separate division is called the Juvenile Justice

System. The Juvenile Justice System is designed in likeness of the adult justice system but it is not the

exact same. Throughout the years the Juvenile Justice System has implemented many programs and

practices that are meant to lower recidivism rates, these programs and practices are meant to target issues

that cause juveniles to become repeat offenders such as self esteem issues. However, with the Juvenile

Justice System there are many arguments that are made for and against the system. The major argument is

that if the Juvenile Justice System is developed enough to lower the rates of juveniles that recommit

crimes, or not.

The purpose of the Juvenile Justice System is to rehabilitate juveniles so that they do not become

reoffenders. On December 21, 2018 “President Donald Trump signed the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of

2018” (National Council). This act is meant to protect juveniles so that they can be allowed to continue

and better their lives, and not be ruined by one offense. The start of juvenile justice begins in “1899, when

Cook County, Illinois, created the country's first juvenile court” (Troutman). Since then juvenile offenders

have been focused on separately from adults. With this first implementation of this court its purpose is to

solely focuses on the “rehabilitation of juvenile offenders” (Troutman). Judy Tusi provides a quick

anecdote that explains one of the ways that restorative justice can help rehabilitate a criminal, and it can

also help other people who are effected by crimes. Restorative justice is a multipurpose tool that when

used in any justice system, it provides multiple approaches to helping people. With restorative justice

criminals are given a second chance, and many believe it can be used “as an alternative to traditional
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justice structures like incarceration, particularly for juvenile offenders” (Tusi). The history of juvenile

justice shows how the system and practices in place to help juveniles will always be able to be updated

with new policies and practices.

With the establishment of restorative justice into the Juvenile Justice System there have been

many practices and programs implemented to better lower recidivism rates. One of these programs is the

Juvenile Employment Opportunities or the JEO, this program was implemented in Jefferson Parish,

Louisiana in 1992 (Bauer). This program is a kind of restorative justice program and it targets “feelings of

achievement, accomplishment and self-worth that a juvenile gains by successfully obtaining and holding a

job” (Bauer). With this kind of program you will find greater success in lowering recidivism rates,

because there is an effort to better a juveniles current situation and later there future as well. Teen Court is

also used in place of a formal court process. Teen Court is only used on nonviolent crimes and first time

offenders (Bouchard and Wong). Teen Court distributes sentences along the lines of “community service,

but may also include required jury service in Teen Court, apology letters to victims, educational

workshops, and/or paying restitution to victims” (Bouchard and Wong), which are not harsh punishments

but are meant for the juvenile to take responsibility for their actions. Teen Court keeps juveniles from

facing actual court sentences and can teach them that their actions have consequences. Although there are

many differences in the Juvenile Justice System and the adult Criminal Justice System, there are also

some similarities. These similarities being practices like electronic monitoring, restraints while in court,

and similar parole procedures (Arnett), with these practices juveniles can be taken through what would

happen if they were arrested as an adult. This may allow for juvenile defenders to divert their path for the

future. Overall, juvenile offenders must be shown that they can have a better future if they choose to be

better.

The counterargument of the Juvenile Justice System is that the policies and practices in place are

not well enough equipped to lower recidivism rates in juveniles. While juvenile offenders are protected
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from things like the capital punishment, life in prison without parole, and improper Miranda waivers by

law, juveniles could still face these things do to the Accountability law which is in practicte in Illinois

(Troutman). The Accountability law is “a method courts use to prosecute individuals when the individual

was not the primary actor but provided some semblance of assistance”(Troutman). The Accountability

law shows that juveniles are not fully protected in the court system, thus making the court system

unadapted. The political affiliation that a state has may also effect how harsh a punishment is for a

juvenile offender. It has been found that “using count models, the results show that larger numbers of

juvenile life sentences are handed out in more politically conservative states with a stronger Republican

Party” (Carmicheal and Burgos), these findings show that political views effect juvenile court sentences.

Juveniles are facing court rulings that are unfair to them due to political affiliations, this makes the justice

system not only unfair but outdated. Sentences affected by political affiliations are not the only reason

that the justice system could be called out-of-date. Juveniles face other sources of poor modernization in

the court system through general punishments and being tried as an adult (Arnett; Ritter). It is said that the

“juvenile courts adopt a "one size fits all" approach and implement tools and practices from the adult

criminal justice system ”(Arnett), meaning that true thought is not put into developing a fitting

punishment for juvenile offenders. The reasoning for if a juvenile is tried as an adult or not is due to the

consideration if a crime “were committed by adults or juveniles, they would always be considered

"crimes," subject only to the jurisdiction of criminal courts” (Ritter), but juveniles are not adults and there

is not a specific age were juveniles can start to be tried as adults. Generally, even if the Juvenile Justice

System has come a long way since its creation there are still multiple aspects of the justice system that

must be brought in to the twenty-first century.

The Juvenile Justice System does many good things like differing juveniles from a life of crime

and helping them solve their identity issues. However, the Juvenile Justices System also shows issues of

not being modernized enough in the form of its punishments, and the policies followed. Juveniles must be
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treated with care for they are the future and it must be insured that they create a wonderful future. The real

issue in this debate is wether or not juveniles are being treated properly and if they are being shown how

much potential they truly have. If the Juvenile Justice System is not fully functioning to its maximum at

lowering recidivism rates, then new policies and practices may be adopted for the system is not set in its

ways and can be updated and changed. The future is merely more important than an argument which can

have a changed outcome.

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Work Cited

Arnett, Chaz. "CRIMINAL LAW: VIRTUAL SHACKLES: ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE AND

THE ADULTIFICATION OF JUVENILE COURTS."​ Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology,​

vol. 108, no. 3, 2018, pp. 399-454​. ProQuest,​

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2124044714?ac

countid=10163​.

Bauer, Craig A. "Juvenile Job Placements as Alternatives to Incarceration."​ Corrections Today​, vol. 57,

no. 2, 1995, pp. 162​. ProQuest​,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/215712485?acc

ountid=10163​.

Bouchard, Jessica, and Jennifer S. Wong. "A Jury of their Peers: A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Teen

Court on Criminal Recidivism."​ Journal of Youth and Adolescence,​ vol. 46, no. 7, 2017, pp.

1472-1487​. ProQuest​,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1907722287?ac

countid=10163, doi:​http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0667-7​.

Carmichael, Jason T., and Giovani Burgos. "Sentencing Juvenile Offenders to Life in Prison: The

Political Sociology of Juvenile Punishment."​ American Journal of Criminal Justice : AJCJ,​ vol.

37, no. 4, 2012, pp. 602-629​. ProQuest​,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1139413446?ac

countid=10163, doi:​http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12103-011-9135-1​.

"National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Applauds Updated Law to Modernize and

Improve Federal Juvenile Justice System: The Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018 Reauthorizes

and Strengthens the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act."​ U.S.Newswire​, Dec 21,

2018​. ProQuest​,
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https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2159480776?ac

countid=10163​.

Ritter, Michael J. "Just (Juvenile Justice) Jargon: An Argument for Terminological Uniformity between

the Juvenile and Criminal Justice Systems."​ American Journal of Criminal Law​, vol. 37, no. 2,

2010, pp. 221-240​. ProQuest​,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/835133174?acc

ountid=10163​.

Troutman, Brooke. "A MORE JUST SYSTEM OF JUVENILE JUSTICE: CREATING A NEW

STANDARD OF ACCOUNTABILITY FOR JUVENILES IN ILLINOIS."​ Journal of Criminal

Law & Criminology​, vol. 108, no. 1, 2018, pp. 197-221​. ProQuest​,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2014525399?ac

countid=10163

Tsui, Judy C. "BREAKING FREE OF THE PRISON PARADIGM: INTEGRATING RESTORATIVE

JUSTICE TECHNIQUES INTO CHICAGO'S JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM."​ Journal of

Criminal Law & Criminology,​ vol. 104, no. 3, 2014, pp. 635-666​. ProQuest,​

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1564021579?ac

countid=10163​.