Georgette Heisterman
CJA/484
July 28, 2013
NIcholas Barbella
Criminal Law Foundations Evaluation
The Juvenile Justice System
Juvenile justice is the section of law that applies to persons under the age of 18 not capable of receiving sentencing in the adult court system or old enough to be responsible for criminal acts committed in society. In most states the age of criminal culpability is 18 however, the age requirement can be set lower in accordance to certain crimes and statutes set by the state the juvenile lives in. Juvenile law is primarily run by state law and most states enforce a specific juvenile code the system follows. The juvenile justice system primarily focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment for youthful offenders. Society appears to concentrate that children are more capable of change than adult offenders more capable of knowing right from wrong ("Cornell University Law School," n.d.).
The statutes creating the juvenile court systems and methods of allocating with juvenile delinquency are run by courts as a suitable extension of state police power to warrant the safety and welfare of children in the system. The doctrine of parens patriae allows the state to promulgate for the safeguard, care, custody, and upkeep of children within its jurisdiction. In 1968 the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Control Act was put into effect, and in 1972 it was put into revision as the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act. This act set forth to assist states in dealing with juvenile delinquent acts and assist communities to prevent delinquency by providing services to the community and youths in high risk of subduing to criminal activity ("Cornell University Law School," n.d.).
The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act describes juvenile delinquency as an act that is a criminal but is set forth by a youth under 18 years of age. It applies rules that state laws must abide by with concern to juvenile court processes and
References: Campaign for Youth Justice. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.campaignforyouthjustice.org/documents/UCLA-Literature-Review.pdf FindLaw. (2012). Retrieved from http://criminal.findlaw.com/juvenile-justice/juvenile-waiver-transfer-to-adult-court.html Jones, W. G. (2006). U.S. Departemnt of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/courts/chapterfour.cfm Just Cause Law Collective. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.lawcollective.org/article.php?id=64 MirandaWarning.org. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.mirandawarning.org/