Discussion Board #3

7 Juvenile Justice Procedures

Chapter Learning Objectives

On completion of this chapter, students should be able to do the following:

· Understand and discuss juvenile court procedures

· Discuss the rights of juveniles at various stages, from taking into custody through appeals

· Understand requirements for bail, notification, and filing of petitions

· Discuss procedures involved in detaining juveniles

What Would You Do?

It is Friday night and you are in bed. Your 13-year-old daughter is spending the night with a friend. The two girls told you they were going to a movie and back to her friend’s home. Her friend’s older sister, who is 18, is going to drive them to and from the movie. At approximately 2:15 a.m. you get a phone call. The caller identifies herself as Lisa Strom, an employee of the Forten County Detention Center. She says that your daughter has been taken into custody for curfew violation, possession of alcohol by a minor, peace disturbance, and assaulting a police officer. Ms. Strom informs you that your daughter will be held in detention pending a review of her case by a juvenile intake officer. This review will take place within the next 24 hours and you will receive another phone call once the juvenile intake officer decides to hold or release the child. She states that you are allowed to visit your daughter once within the next 24 hours and informs you that visitation is allowed between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. that day. The only question you can think to ask is if your daughter is okay. Ms. Strom says your daughter is going through the intake process and is in good health. You hang up the phone wide awake and wondering what to do next.

What Would You Do?

1. Would your daughter be classified as a status offender or a delinquent, according to the charges?

2. What would be your next course of action? Would you contact a lawyer, wait for the phone call from the juvenile intake officer, visit your daughter during visiting hours, or do something else?

3. If you were the juvenile intake officer, would you continue to detain this child or release her to her parents pending court?

Juvenile court acts discuss not only the purposes and scope of the juvenile justice system but also the procedure the juvenile courts are to follow. Proceedings concerning juveniles officially begin with the filing of a petition alleging that a juvenile is delinquent, dependent, neglected, abused, in need of supervision, or in need of authoritative intervention. Most juvenile court acts, however, also discuss the unofficial or diversionary activities available as remedies prior to the filing of a petition such as a stationhouse adjustment and a preliminary conference. A stationhouse adjustment occurs when a police officer negotiates a settlement with a juvenile, often with his or her parents, without taking further official action (a full discussion of stationhouse adjustments follows in Chapter 8). A preliminary conference is a voluntary meeting arranged by a juvenile probation officer with the victim, the juvenile, and typically the juvenile’s parents or guardian in an attempt to negotiate a settlement without taking further official action. Juvenile court acts clearly indicate those persons who are eligible to file a petition. For example, in Illinois any adult person (21 years of age or over), agency, or association by its representative may file a petition, or the court on its own motion may direct the filing through the state’s attorney of a petition in respect to a minor under the act (Illinois Compiled Statutes [ILCS], ch. 705, art. 1, sec. 405/1-3, 2012). Tennessee’s statute says, “The petition may be made by any person, including a law enforcement officer, who has knowledge of the facts alleged or is informed and believes that they are true” (Tennessee Code Annotated, § 37-1-119, 2012).

Although it is true that a petition may be filed by any eligible person by going directly to the prosecutor (state’s attorney or district attorney), a large proportion of petitions are filed following police action or by social service agencies dealing with minors by either juvenile court personnel or prosecuting attorneys. To understand the step-by-step procedures involved in processing juveniles, we discuss the typical sequence of events occurring after the police take a juvenile into custody. We rely heavily on the procedures given in the Uniform Juvenile Court Act and the Illinois Juvenile Court Act, which closely resemble similar acts in many states. Although a general discussion of juvenile justice procedures is given, some states differ with respect to specific requirements. You should consult the juvenile court act or code relevant to your state for exact procedural requirements.

Are stationhouse adjustments more common for juveniles of some ages, races, and gender than others?

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Rights of Juveniles

Regardless of the particular jurisdiction, juveniles in the United States have been (since the 1967 Gault decision) guaranteed a number of basic rights at the adjudicatory stage. Thus, a juvenile who is alleged to be delinquent has the following rights (In re Gault, 1967):

1. The right to notice of the charges and time to prepare for the case

2. The right to counsel

3. The right to confront and cross-examine witnesses

4. The right to remain silent in court

As a direct result of the Gault decision, the constitutional guarantees of the Fifth Amendment and Sixth Amendment are applicable to states through the Fourteenth Amendment and not only apply to delinquency matters but also have been extended to some cases involving the need for supervision or intervention. The question remaining after the Gault decision concerned the extent to which its mandate logically extended to other stages of the juvenile justice process, particularly the police investigatory process. Both the Gault and Kent decisions (Kent v. United States, 1966) have been interpreted to require the application of the Fourth Amendment and the exclusionary rule to the juvenile justice process. The most difficult issue has revolved around the juvenile’s competency to waive his or her rights under Miranda. In general, the courts have relied on a totality of circumstances approach in determining the validity of the waiver. Circumstances considered include the age, competency, and educational level of the juvenile; his or her ability to understand the nature of the charges; and the methods used in, and length of, the interrogation (Davis, 2001, sec. 3.13, pp. 3-86–3-90).

The Uniform Juvenile Court Act (National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, 1968, sec. 26) provides that all parties to juvenile court proceedings are entitled to representation by counsel. Many jurisdictions currently provide for representation by counsel in neglect, abuse, and dependency proceedings, extending the Gault decision to such cases (Montana Code Annotated, 41-3-425, 2015; 32A-1-1; NMSA, 1978). In a neglect and/or abuse case, legal counsel for the minor may be the state’s attorney, who represents the state that has a duty to protect the child. The court may also appoint a guardian ad litem for a juvenile if the juvenile has no parent or guardian appearing on his or her behalf or if the parent’s or guardian’s interests conflict with those of the juvenile—as is often the case in abuse and neglect cases. Some states allow for both the prosecuting attorney and the guardian ad litem, with the guardian ad litem presenting a separate case based on evidence he or she believes to demonstrate the best interest of the child (Missouri Revised Statutes, 211.462, 2015).

The protection afforded by the Fourth Amendment against illegal search and seizure extends to juveniles. All courts that have specifically considered the issue of the applicability of the Fourth Amendment to the juvenile justice process have found it to be applicable, or more correctly, no court has found it to be inapplicable (Davis, 2001, 3–17; Montana Code Annotated, 41-5-1415, 2015). The Uniform Juvenile Court Act (National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, 1968, sec. 27[b]) states that evidence seized illegally will not be admitted over objection. Similarly, a valid confession made by a juvenile out of court is, in the words of the Uniform Juvenile Court Act, “insufficient to support an adjudication of delinquency unless it is corroborated in whole or in part by other evidence.” This extends some protection to juveniles not normally accorded to adults. In addition, the Uniform Juvenile Court Act (sec. 27[a]) recommends that a party be entitled to introduce evidence and otherwise be heard in his or her own behalf and to cross-examine adverse witnesses. Furthermore, a juvenile accused of a delinquent act need not be a witness against, or otherwise incriminate, himself or herself. A majority of juvenile court acts do not spell out a detailed code of evidence. However, most do specify whether the rules permit only competent, material, and relevant evidence and whether the rules of evidence that apply in criminal or civil cases are applicable in juvenile cases. A number of states provide that the rules of evidence applicable in criminal cases apply in delinquency proceedings and that the rules of evidence applicable in civil cases apply in other proceedings (i.e., neglect, dependency, and in-need-of-supervision cases). In Georgia, for example, the standard of proof in dependency cases is clear and convincing evidence, whereas in delinquency cases the standard of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt (Georgia Criminal and Traffic Law Manual, 2014, 15-11-180 and 15-11-581).

The Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommended many years ago that, unless a child is advised by counsel, the statements of the child made while in the custody of the police or probation officers, including statements made during a preliminary inquiry, predisposition