Court Systems: Punishment & Sentencing 2

Court Systems: Punishment & Sentencing 2

Society as a whole has laws and regulations that he or she must abide. These laws made are no exceptions to any adult or the younger generation. If a law is broken no matter what age the accused are, he or she will have consequences and repercussions that are set up by the criminal justice system. However with any system there are different circumstances when dealing with adults and younger individuals who are known as juveniles. The juvenile system main focus is to rehabilitate, and in the process deter him or her away from any future illegal act.

Court System: Creation of the Juvenile System

In the 1800's there became a new system that would be put into play that would change the face of the law as we know it today; and that is the enactment of the United States Juvenile Criminal Justice System. This system was put into effect in order to restructure the policies in regards to how youth offenders would prosecuted in our court system. Throughout time there have been many changes that have occurred and also new policies added. These such changes for instance in the 1960's had jurisdiction over nearly all cases that involve any person under the age of 18, and any transfer into the adult criminal system would and could only be made through a waiver of the juveniles court's authority. In 1967 there would be a decision by the Supreme Court that would affirm the necessity that would require the juvenile courts to respect the due process of law rights of juveniles during their legal proceedings. This ruling would come as the result of an extensive evaluation of Arizona's decision that confined Gerald Francis Gault at the age of 15. In 1964, a young boy named Gerald Francis Gault made a variety of prank phone call but one in particular called and complained to the police. Mrs. Cook alerted the authorities and

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Gault was picked up by law enforcement. When Gault was placed in front of a judge, he did not have any attorneys, jury, or witnesses. This young man was not read his rights or even aware of it, and was to be sentenced close to six years. He would later be placed in State Industrial School until the age of 21. Justice Abe Fortas was the judge that presided over the trial, and he emphasized that youth do have the right to receive a fair treatment under the law. He pointed out that minors had rights such as, right to legal counsel, right to receive notice of charges, privilege against self-incrimination, right to appellate review, and also the right to receive a "transcript of the proceedings.

Juvenile System Process

The juvenile system is a network of agencies that deal with juveniles whose conduct has come in conflict with the law. These agencies include police, prosecutor, detention, court, probation, and the Department of Juvenile Corrections (Judicial District). The process between the adult and juvenile process is similar but different in certain aspects. The juvenile process has steps that have to be taken just as an adult procedure would be to ensure that his or her rights are not violated. When a juvenile is first arrested law enforcement can have the choice of requesting the juvenile be detained or referring the juvenile to the prosecutor's office and returning the juvenile to his or her parents. If the juvenile is detained he or she will go through the intake process. This is to see how the juvenile's case will be handled. Usually if it is a minor offense he or she can be given over to the probation department, but if it is a repeat offender he or she is referred to court. After being referred to court the offender will be arraigned. This will notify the parents and offender of the charges. It also allows the judge to explain the rights that the juvenile

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has so that he or she is not deprived of it. After explaining the legal formalities the judge can release the juvenile to the custody of his or her parents until the next hearing, or the offender can be detained to a detention short term facility.