HISTORY OF THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

Today juveniles have just as many constitutional rights as adults in the legal system, but before the twentieth century they had virtually no rights. Kids were actually considered to be Chattel (property) in the eyes of the courts worldwide. Just like property they were bought and sold.

The US justice system treated juveniles the same as adult offenders concerning housing and penalties. Juveniles, when convicted, were placed in the same facilities as adults. Imagine being 10 years old and living with thieves, rapists, and murderers. You probably would’ve been picked on, bullied, and abused in every conceivable way. It’s hard to believe that a child coming out of that kind of situation alright was extremely rare. It was probably the beginning of the end for most juveniles. Forever scarred both mentally physically and mentally, they would’ve become frequent guests for the rest of their lives.

Not only did they have to share facilities with the adults, but they also shared the same penalties/sentences. It didn’t matter how old the offender was the punishment was the same for all. Children as young as 9 could spend 10, 20, even 30 years in prison. Although I was unsuccessful in finding anything on line, there are some stories of children serving life sentences and even being executed. As horrific as these things are, things started to change in the late seventeen hundreds to early eighteen hundreds.

The first significant housing change for juveniles occurred in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, Pa. In 1790 Philadelphia opened up a facility called “The Wall Street Jail”. This separated juveniles and adult offenders. Anyone under the age of 17 in Philly went there to serve their sentence. In 1823 New York established the “Houses of Refuge”. These were used to house delinquents, neglected, and abused kids. The children in these facilities were rehabilitated with the use of hard work and religion.

In the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds society became more focused on saving children. During this time the “Child Savers” were born. They were focused more on helping children and providing a safer environment for them. Most of the people involved in the “Child Savers” were prominent women. Jane Addams and Julia Lathrop were the most noted of the women. Their efforts strongly encouraged the continued reform of the Juvenile Justice System (JJS).

In the late eighteen hundreds the Illinois Juvenile Court Act of 1899 was passed. Even though Philadelphia had a separate facility for juveniles, it did not establish a separate court for juveniles. This piece of legislation did just that. It consisted mainly of the following items:

A) Juveniles became adults when they turned 16

B) They had separate courtrooms for juvenile cases

C) Different procedures for juveniles

D) Placement involving dependant, neglected, and delinquent kids

E) Emphasized rehabilitation and treatment

F) Developed juvenile probation programs and officers for those programs

G) Parens Patriae—State as Parent. The state acted as the parent when the parents were unable, unfit, or unwilling to care for them.

The Illinois Juvenile Court Act of 1899 was a life saver for children in the US. For the first time in our history we started to recognize children as people who could be saved. They had hope where they never had it before thanks to people like the Child Savers.

As the IJC Act of 1899 focused on criminal activity other offences were overlooked completely until 1974. Until 1974 all acts of misconduct by juveniles were treated in the same way. They were taken to court, tried, and housed. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency, Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDP) was passed by Congress to address less serious offences by juveniles. Penalties for status offences and juveniles were about to change. The JJDP consisted mainly of the following:

A) Deinstitutionalization of status offenders—No one fitting this category could be held in secure detention or confinement.

B) Sight and Sound Separation—juveniles could not be held in the same facilities as adults.

C) Disproportionate Minority Confinement—required states to address issues of population of minorities in jails exceeding the population of free minorities in proportionately. If the free minority population was about 10% in the city, than the housed minority population could not exceed 10% by a great deal or the state had to find out why and take measures to fix it.

During the Clinton administration Congress passed the Balanced Juvenile Justice and Crime Prevention Act of 1996 (BJJCP). This act focused on preventing and deterring juveniles from committing crimes. They attempted to do it with more punitive (punishment) and accountability measures for juveniles. Just before the turn of the century the juvenile population in rehab spiked to about 450,000 in the US. Just after the year 2000 the juvenile population went on a steady decline for about a decade. Just before 2010 it dropped to roughly 225,000.

I cannot say with 100% certainty that the BJJCP Act of 1996 is responsible, but it is at least an incredible coincidence. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was though. Adults, in general, are less afraid of things in life than kids are. They are less easily intimidated, and therefore more apt to do what they please. Kids, on average, have a lot less control of their emotions including fear and anxiety. They tend to react instinctively more so than adults. They also have a lot more of their life to live.

With all of the advancements in juvenile justice, some still don’t stand a chance. Some simply make the wrong choices despite getting in trouble. Others have parents that will “protect” them from everything including the hardships of getting arrested and jail. Others have parents that simply don’t care and expose them to criminal activity. With the economy like it is, and with the examples that a lot of parents set, it’s surprising that more kids aren’t confined and locked up.

Juvenile Justice: Police, Programs, and Practices; Second Edition. Taylor, Fritsch, Caeti.