Juvenile Court & its Jurisdiction
• Juvenile Court- Act in best interest of child & public
• Family Court- broader jurisdiction personal & household problems (ex. Child support, custody, paternity)
Court Case Flow:
• Cases referred to juvenile court declined as of ’05 9% from ‘97
• 73% processed were males
People in Juvenile Courtroom:
• Defense attorney-
o Juveniles have right to counsel; must be provided if facing incarceration
o Similar to defense attorneys for adults
o Important attorney & juvenile have relationship (private attorney trusted more by juvenile than public)
o Guardian ad litem- appointed by court, brought in when child’s welfare is involved to have best interest of child, many roles
• Court-Appointed Special Advocate-
o Volunteers that advise juveniles about their placement
o Link between all involved
• Public Defender Services for Children-
o Extended public defender services: all public defender program, appointed private counsel system, & combination system of public defenders & appointed private attorneys
• Prosecutor-
o Bringing case against juvenile
o Different levels
o 60 years nonexistent because thought to go against informal proceeding best for child
o Broad discretion
• Judge-
o Central person
o Big influence on other areas (EX. Probation)
o Many duties, listed on page 331
Juvenile Court Process
• Where hard big decisions are made
Release or Detain?:
• Many reasons to be detained (ex. Nowhere to go, violate probation, waiting sentence, etc.)
• Shelter care- places that feel more like home for juveniles neglected, abused, status offenders (boarding/foster homes)
• Delinquent detained in one of every 5 cases
• Typical detainee is male 16+ and charged with violent crime: Status offenses typically