NCJ Number
193303
Journal
Judicature Volume: 85 Issue: 3 Dated: November-December 2001 Pages: 140-146
Date Published
2001
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article traces the evolution of the involvement of victims in the proceedings of the juvenile court and identifies problems that have arisen from certain types of victim participation.
Abstract
While victims were gaining an increasingly stronger foothold in criminal court proceedings during the 1970's and 1980's, victims' rights remained mostly dormant in the juvenile justice system. In the 1990's, however, the system experienced an explosion of victims' rights, as 31 States enacted major provisions that affect the victim's role in juvenile court. As in criminal court, the compensation stage of victims' rights was the first to be reached in juvenile court. Requiring youths to pay restitution to victims was readily viewed as an important rehabilitative tool. Further, victims are being granted both admission to and a voice at all major stages of the juvenile court process. Contrary to the fundamental tenets of juvenile justice, victims have been elevated to a status from which dominating the prosecution of juvenile offenders is within their reach. To compensate and to accommodate victims should be primary goals of juvenile courts, and both missions can be achieved without undermining the basic tenets of juvenile justice, which emphasize accountability and rehabilitation. Victims' participation becomes a problem when they have the power to obstruct court decisions intended to serve the youth's best interest; for example, vetoing a diversion effort can prevent the youth from immediately acquiring services and could needlessly burden the youth with an adjudication, a court record, and a more intrusive disposition. Active victims can also constitute a threat to due process and fairness; divert courts from a rehabilitative to a punitive focus; contribute to sentencing disparity; and overburden courts with additional administrative responsibilities. 3 tables and 28 footnotes