NCJ Number
181989
Journal
Juvenile Justice Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: December 1999 Pages: 3-12
Date Published
1999
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This interview with the Honorable J. Dean Lewis -- judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for the 15th Judicial District of Virginia and immediate past president of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges -- discusses the jurisdictional parameters and achievements of the juvenile court as it has evolved over the last 100 years and assesses its current status and challenges.
Abstract
Judge Lewis notes that from State to State, juvenile judges are generally vested with broad jurisdiction over problems that involve children and their families, with juvenile delinquency being only one of those problems. She further outlines the major achievements of the juvenile court over its history. These include recognition of the separate developmental and needs status of youth compared to adults, the evolution of the children's court to the family court, the treatment of each youth as a unique human being, the introduction of the medical model for managing youth, the development of alternative methods for legal proceedings, and turning away from youth institutions toward families. Judge Lewis also discusses the impact of specialized courts for youth, such as drug courts, gun courts, and youth and teen courts, as well as the trend toward waiving more youth to criminal courts. She notes that many of the fears about youth crime that have led to the increasing use of waivers are unjustified, given data that show a decline in violent youth crime. Other issues addressed in the interview are the disproportionate confinement of minority juveniles, the current challenges facing juvenile court judges, and the juvenile court's evolution to meet the challenges of the 21st century.