-1

Punishment and Sentencing

#PUNISHMENT AND SENTENCING
2

Punishment and Sentencing

The juvenile court system varies from the adult court system, and modifications are being

made every day. As with an adult, when a juvenile is arrested, the arresting officer must have more

than mere suspicion, he or she must also have probable cause to make an arrest. In some states, law

enforcement is required to contact a probation officer or other official assigned by the juvenile

court. In other states, law enforcement is required to only contact the child’s parents. When a

juvenile is arrested he or she is taken to a police station for his or her preliminary assessment. After

the preliminary assessment is completed, the arresting officer will make the decision whether or

not to dismiss the case, redirect it to an alternate program, or turn the case over to juvenile court

for formal intake. Intake procedures were created to screen out cases that do not justify a formal

court hearing.

There are many punishment philosophies in the juvenile courts and punishment process.

The juvenile punishment process tries to separate itself from the adult punishment process with the

theory that juveniles have the ability to be rehabilitated and recover from the issues that he or she

is going through. Some of the ways that this is implemented is by counseling classes as well as

anger management classes. During this process an evaluation is completed of the child’s life and

house hold to ensure that his or her parents are doing the right thing as well. The courts also ensure

that the house hold he or she lives is a suitable place for the child to be, and in most cases, all

juvenile offences are stricken from his or her record once he or she becomes an adult. This helps

him or her when finding jobs and excelling in his or her life. Unlike an adult, everything that is

committed by him or her, stays on his or her record and can stop him or her from getting the jobs

that he or she wants. This philosophy has proven to be very helpful in most cases but it takes the
#PUNISHMENT AND SENTENCING
3

effort of both parties to make a difference in how his or her life is going to turn out.

Juvenile philosophies differs from adult sentencing in several different ways, mostly that its

primary aim is always rehabilitation of the juvenile, rather than punishment. Juvenile court

proceedings are typically reserved for offenders under the age of 18, though the circumstances may

dictate that the minor be tried as an adult and submit to the formal court process. Juvenile

proceedings are often less formal and it is not always necessary for the juvenile to be represented

by an attorney. Another major difference the between adult and juvenile court process is that once

the minor serves the punishment ordered by the court, his or her record is typically expunged of the

offense.

When a juvenile is charged with a crime, he or she may be sent to a juvenile court for

determination as to if he or she is to be adjudicated as delinquent. If the situation is appropriate,

courts usually prefer to try minors in juvenile court rather than formally charging him or her. Many

factors are considered in determining whether or not to try the minor in juvenile court. The main

factor is the severity of the offense, but other factors include the minors age, past record, and social

history. If the court determines that the circumstances do not dictate formal charges by necessity,

then the minor will likely be tried in juvenile court.

There are many types of sanctions involved in the juvenile punishment process. Depending

on the severity of the crime a minor can be ordered to house arrest or electronic monitoring as well

probation. If there were drugs involved there can be an order that he or she will have to take a

urinalysis on a weekly bases or however the judge sees fit. With each of these types of sanction

there can be many other rules applied to them. These are usually only for the first and second time

offenders that have the ability of being rehabilitated. For those who are repeat offenders there are
#PUNISHMENT AND SENTENCING
4

facilities and camps to try to rehabilitee them as well. But these are harsher in the way they handle

the juveniles to ensure they get the point that they are trying to push to them. There are also

incentives so the juveniles have something to look forward to after completion of their punishment

or for having good behavior. One example good be if a juvenile has a year probation he or she can

come off sooner with good behavior and no further infractions. These methods have proven to be a

helpful tool in the reduction of juvenile delinquency in the past 20 years.

The majority of states have passed a law detailing reasons as to what judges are to

contemplate when enforcing criminal sentences on juvenile offenders. These legal factors often

include the following:

1. The best interests of child

2. Protection of society

3. Whether the child has had previous problems at home or at school

4. Whether the offense resulted from a temporary family crisis that can be resolved

5. Whether other community resources are better suited to serve the child’s needs

6. Attitudes of child and parent

7. Age, maturity, and abilities

8. Prior dependency or delinquency

9. Recommendations by the referring party

10. Attitudes of the victims’ (Law Files)

A vital feature in the construction of juvenile sentencing laws is the information kept

private, the information not kept private, and the information that will follow him or her to

adulthood. The overall issue regarding privacy and being a juvenile delinquent is that often, the
#PUNISHMENT AND SENTENCING
5

records follow children to adulthood. Each situation needs to be considered differently because

often, juveniles learn from his or her mistakes or were faced with hardships at home which had an

influence on his or her choices.

Juvenile courts deal with child cases as well as child criminal matters where a minor is the

defendant. In a majority of cases, the child’s parents or counsel has the right to challenge a ruling

passed down by a juvenile court. After a final ruling is obtained, parents or counsel will have a

cutoff time in which to file an appeal. The appellate process is frequently very slow, and usually,

this can range anywhere from 20 to 30 days, but this differs by state. Parents and counsel have the

right to appeal some of the juvenile court‘s rulings. Some states may permit appeal from other trial

court rulings, but normally, only final rulings are appealed or accepted for appellate review.

Appellate courts rule on cases founded on written record, or a videotape in some locations, from

the trial court. What is examined, recorded, and determined are as follows:

1. If the judge abused his or her discretion in finding the facts.

2. If the facts support the judge's conclusions of the law.

3. If the judge correctly applied the law to the facts.

Even though the subject of the litigation is the child, he or she is not a “party,” and

contingent on a particular state’s law, may not have an independent right to appeal. States that have

intermediate appellate courts will, most likely, address an appeal within this court. Within other

states, the appeal process will be automatically sent to the State Supreme Court. Rulings, appellate

briefs, and transcripts need to be prepared, filed, and chosen for proposal to the appellate court.

Appellate judges should discuss, make a provisional ruling, and choose one member to write the

opinion. Negotiations concerning the ruling can take a considerable amount of time, such as
#PUNISHMENT AND SENTENCING
6

months, in cases where there are substantial disputes in opinion. It is also not unusual for this

process to take more than a year until an appellate ruling is presented. Some state appellate courts

have tried to correct this problem by prioritizing the completion of cases, but in the meantime, the

child, and his or her parents, natural, foster, or adoptive, are in limbo.

In conclusion the differences implemented in the juvenile punishment process from the

adult punishment process have shown to made a beneficiary change to our society and to our

youth. With all the changes in the sentencing and punishment juvenile delinquency has dropped

tremendously and has proven to be well worth the changes. It is necessary to educate our youth and

show him or her that even though you make a mistake you can always recover and keep going on

with your life without having that mistake on your shoulders for the rest of your life.

References

Juvenile Appeals Process. Retrieved April 24, 2012, from http://www.djj.state.va.us/About_Us

/JuvenileProcess.aspx

Juvenile Court System. Retrieved April 24, 2012, from http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/structure_

process/index.html

Juvenile and Adult Court Process. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://www.lawcollective.org
#PUNISHMENT AND SENTENCING
7

/article.php?id=64

Juvenile and Adult Court Process. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://www.housedems.ct.gov

/jjpic/JurisdictionalAgepowerpoint%20draft.pdf

Juvenile Sentencing. Retrieved April 26, 2012, from http://www.lawfiles.net/top-nine-factors-

commonly-used-in-sentencing-juveniles/

Factors Considered When Determining Sentences. Retrieved April 26, 2012, from http://criminal

.findlaw.com/criminal-proceedure/factors-considered-in-determining-sentences.html