NCJ Number
180733
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 50 Issue: 4 Dated: Fall 1999 Pages: 21-27
Date Published
1999
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Juvenile justice reforms in recent years have focused on accountability and thus have rapidly moved toward returning children and the juvenile justice system to the status that they held during the late 19th century.
Abstract
Legal reforms of recent decades gave children almost the same criminal due process protections that adults possess. However, some policymakers soon regarded the enfranchisement of children as a long-awaited window of opportunity to hold children accountable for their law violations. A study of State legislative activity during 1991-96 revealed that legislatures have focused on removing more serious and violent juvenile offenders from the juvenile justice system, revising traditional confidentiality provisions, and other actions significantly changing juvenile justice. By the end of 1996, all but one State had enacted laws authorizing criminal prosecution and punishment of children 14 years or older charged with serious felony offenses. New laws have also made major changes in sentencing practices. Legislators are simply responding to constituents' fears about youth crime and doubts about the effectiveness of the existing system's effectiveness. However, the country has made exceptions for most children to the rigid proportionality rule for criminal sanctions, based on the differences between children and adults. The wisdom of wholesale criminalization of children is questionable, although society's standards of decency may have devolved to the point where protection of children is no longer a compelling government interest. However, fear of crime is more a result of media coverage for commercial reasons rather than of crime rates. The next millennium needs to bring recognition that children are worth protecting and are the only future the country has.