NCJ Number
73184
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 47 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1980) Pages: 25-27
Date Published
1980
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The 20 approved volumes of American Bar Institute (ABA) and Institute of Judicial Administration (IJA) Juvenile Justice Standards recommend sweeping changes improve the juvenile justice system.
Abstract
Reflecting the view that serious juvenile crime is a problem which demands priority attention, the standards call for determinate sentences and greater certainty of punishment for serious juvenile delinquents. At the same time, they stress nonincarcerative dispositional alternatives for nonviolent crimes. The standards also reject the principle of secret, closed, and informal proceedings for juveniles and urge that visibility and accountability replace closed proceedings and unrestrained official discretion. In addition, the standards reject secure insitutionalization of delinquents for treatment purposes, but they support treatment as a dispositional factor for nonsecure institutional placements and conditional dispositions. All sentences, regardless of their severity, must be determinate and strict criteria should be established for waiver of juvenile court jurisdiction to regulate transfer of jurisdiction to adult criminal court. Finally, police authority in dealing with juveniles should be clarified and structured, the serious problems of juvenile crime should be given priority by police agencies, and police interrogation of criminal matters should apply similarly to both adult and juvenile subjects.