Records and Confidentiality (From Juvenile Justice Standards Symposium, P 924-987, 1979 - See NCJ-76912)

• NCJ Number: 76928
• Author(s): J J Delaney
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 64 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This document is available on microfiche under NCJ number 76912.

Annotation

A symposium presentation and subsequent discussion focus on the principles and problems involved in the establishment, maintenance, and use of juvenile records and relates these principles to proposed standards on the subject.

Abstract

The proposed standards include those of the Institute for Judicial Administration/American Bar Association (IJA/ABA) Joint Commission, the National Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (NAC), and the National Task Force to Develop Standards and Goals for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Standards advanced by the NAC and the task force are designed to improve the present juvenile justice system and are basically desirable, whereas the IJA/ABA standards appear to be directed to a restructuring of the system. Examination of the sources of records maintained by law enforcement agencies, the juvenile courts, and the juvenile corrections system shows that the records they maintain are not created on their own initiative but are thrust on them by the conduct of others. Thus, the assumption that the origin of such records can be limited or controlled by standards is erroneous. Although standards cannot control the nature and volume of materials, they can define limitations on use and dissemination outside the immediate agency. To this extent standards are helpful. Juvenile records should be succinct, accurate, and relevant and should be forbidden and reasonable agency safeguards should be established to ensure privacy and confidentiality. Since potential employers and others often inquire about involvement in the juvenile justice system, juveniles should be protected from required disclosure of juvenile indiscretion by legislation which prohibits such inquiry. As a further protection to juveniles, all juvenile records should be automatically destroyed when juveniles reach their 18th birthday. The discussion focused mainly on the subject of destruction of records. Footnotes are included. (Author abstract modified)