Juvenile Court Process

Juvenile Court Process
CJS/220 Introduction to Criminal Court System
July 9, 2014

In this assignment, I am required to explain the court process as it relates to the juvenile offenders in the criminal justice system. I think that first, it is very important to realize that there are many different outlets to consider when speaking on the ways in which the juvenile court process works. I think that we need to realize that there are different ways that a juvenile can be processed after committing a crime. The defendant is required to be examined to see, the severity of the crime, the number prior convictions the defendant has and the reasons and the cause of the crimes. These are all things that a prosecutor needs to know in order to determine if a juvenile is to be incarcerated or released or if they are to have other forms of punishment. The court process for juveniles formally goes like this, after a crime has been committed, a juvenile is usually detained, rather than arrested. This is because, it is unlawful to arrest and question a juvenile, unless the parents or guardians are present. After this process is complete, a petition is conducted to give notice of the charges to the parents or guardian, and the defendant. This is usually a formal list of the charges. Once all of these things are done, then the court proceedings begin, almost as if the case were in adult court. We must still remember that, the level and intensity of the crime, will determine where the case should be heard; juvenile or, adult court settings. Usually, the process in the juvenile court, is to, deter adolescences from future crime. This means, this court tries to focus more on the rehabilitation of the child rather than incarceration. It is my sincere opinion that the juvenile process should mostly differ from the adult process. I think the juvenile process should really be in place to help to get kids back on the right track and to make sure that they are in society and they have the tools to live a happy crime free life. I believe that the adult process should apply to kids who commit murder and sexual assault and other especially heinous crime. I think that these are the people who need to go through the adult criminal system because to commit any of these crimes, they have to be in need of assistance from the corrections department or the facilities by which they are placed.