...Delinquent Diversion Programs This paper will thoroughly cover the establishment of Juvenile Delinquent Diversion Programs and how it contributes to recidivism rates among young offenders. The first part will discuss a detailed description of delinquent diversion programs along with its history and purpose behind its creation. The second part will discuss specifically the Juvenile Drug-Court Diversion Program and how it is applied to the traditional court process. The final part will touch on how the Juvenile Drug-Court Diversion Program contributes to recidivism rates among young offenders in addition to sanctions that are given to those who do not successfully complete the program. History of Diversion Programs In the late 1960s, diversion...
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...Drug Courts: Adult and Juvenile Rehabilitation Programs Eugene Berry Crj2200 Introduction to Criminal Courts Drug courts handle nonviolent substance abuse offenders, drug courts are used primarily to solve a problem rather than to send someone to jail or lock an offender away with less chance of rehabilitation. In the United States there are currently almost 2500 drug courts in the 50 states as well as the U.S. territories of Guam, and Puerto Ricco. Drug courts got their start in Florida, in 1989 judge Gerald Wetherington, Judge Herbert Klein, and state attorneys designed the court for non-violent offenders in Miami-Dade County, to battle a rising crack-cocaine problem in there city’s. Drug courts are a program the can involve different levels of intensive supervision by the courts themselves, this includes drug testing and substance abuse clinics or treatment programs. Drug court judges gain a lot of discretion and leeway in this system and can give the offenders instant or gradual sanctions if the offenders fail to meet the standards of the program given. To help keep the offenders compliant the courts can offer fewer drug tests, fewer court dates, and even the possibility of reduced or completely dismissed sentences if they programs are fully completed. Drug courts are proven to keep offenders from repeating their offences and the overall reduction in recidivism rates on these charges. There is research being done today that shows this treatment method could reduce drug...
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...first Drug Court in the United States was established in Miami- Dade County, Florida in 1989 as a response to the growing crack-cocaine problem affecting the city. Chief Judge Gerald Wetherington, Judge Herbert Klein, then State Attorney Janet Reno and Public Defender Bennett Brummer designed the court for nonviolent offenders to receive treatment. A Drug Court is a specialty court that manages drug abuse cases through comprehensive supervision, drug testing and treatment. Incarceration is an appropriate resolution for some people, but for many, society is better served by addressing the underlying causes of a person’s addiction. Montgomery County Circuit Court offers two drug court programs, one for adults and one for juveniles. Both are comprehensive treatment programs for adults and youth offenders who have serious drug/alcohol dependency problems. The drug treatment court was established in October, 2003persuant to the order of Chief Judge Robert M. Bell of the Maryland Court Appeals. The drug court was developed because of high rates of re-arrest, fragmented approaches to treatment, a focus on punishment rather than rehabilitation. The Montgomery County Circuit Court Adult Court Program is a voluntary program that offers offenders with drug/alcohol-dependency problems a new opportunity to break the chain of the cycle of drug/alcohol addiction and crime through intensive treatment and, monitoring and direct attention from the court. The purpose of the Adult Drug Court Program...
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...Catanduanes State University Laboratory Schools Virac, Catanduanes SY 2014-2015 Drug Addiction/Drug Usage Lyri Kirsten Anicken T. Gianan Grade 9 – Platinum Mr. Eddie Cabrera February 11, 2015 Report on the Enforcement of the Prohibition Laws of the United States by the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement (Wickersham Commission Report on Alcohol Prohibition) I have signed the report of the Commission, although as is probably inevitable when eleven people of different antecedents and temperaments endeavor to agree upon a contentious subject, it is more or less of a compromise of varying opinions. In so far as it states facts, I believe it to be generally accurate. Every effort has been made to make it so. I should have preferred to have it state more facts and fewer broad generalizations from unstated facts. But the difficulties in securing accurate statistics, owing to the unsystematic and unscientific manner in which they are commonly kept in this country, often makes it impossible to get reliable statements of fact, although there may be sufficient available information to afford a fairly reliable basis of generalization. I am in entire accord with the conclusions "that enforcement of the National Prohibition Act made a bad start which has affected enforcement ever since"; that "it was not until after the Senatorial investigation of 1926 had opened people's eyes to the extent of law breaking and corruption that serious efforts were made" to coordinate "the...
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...Future of the Juvenile Justice System Proposal Gina Tompkins, Marcus Hall, Terri Washington, Victor Jones CJA 374 November 24, 2013 Bruce Clingan Future of the Juvenile Justice System Proposal The juvenile justice system is designed to correct and change the behavior of juvenile offenders. Change in behavior is an indication the system is working. If there is no change, the system is deemed ineffective and a team of juvenile justice consultants are called in to make corrections. In reality, this team is composed of four state officials whose sole purpose is to develop a proposal to present to the state legislature for recommendations of adjustments to the juvenile justice system. This team of consultants is creating these recommendations including all aspects of community, law enforcement, courts, corrections, and the private sector or privatization involvement. The community should be involved in the future of the juvenile justice system along with funding, awareness, and assistance from the state. Characteristics of the Golden Program and the Reclaiming Futures Program The recommendation to the state legislature is to improve the juvenile justice system by introducing proven ways of enhancing community involvement through community-based programs such as the Golden Program and the Reclaiming Futures Program. One proven way to improve effectiveness according to Nissen (2007), is a program named Golden (the integrated care network) that involves court personnel...
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...Executive Summary The American court system is overflowed with people that suffer from substance abuse. For example drug and/or alcohol related crimes have been implicated in violent crimes, instances of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect cases. Therefore, drug court has come in to offer people arrested for substances abuse related crimes and opportunity to receive community-based treatment with judicial supervision to avoid potential incarceration. For this reason drug court has changed people’s lives in a variety of ways, which are often overlooked, are the positive impact on families and society. Overall, substance abuse offenders have a recurring problem for the criminal justice system as a result drug courts are an important strategy to reduce incarceration, provide drug treatment and reduce recidivism among nonviolent offenders. Another key point is research study by the National Institute of Justice in 2009 called the Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation confirmed that Drug Courts reduced crime and substance abuse, improved family relationships, and also increasing employment and school enrollment. (Marlowe, 2010) Another key point is drug courts have affected the offender’s criminal behavior and substance use with mandated drug and alcohol treatment. Henceforth drug courts has been a popular diversion program for drug offenders since it’s began in Dade County Florida in 1989. Overview Drug courts represent the criminal justice approach to ensure public...
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...Florida International University April 17, 2011 Abstract Probation is one of the alternative responses for prison overcrowding, and it is the primary prosecutorial instrument in the war of drugs. It is an agency that plays two roles in the criminal justice system: it works as a law enforcement agency (protecting the society) and it provides social service (offering rehabilitation for minor offenders who pose minimal risks to public safety). The state department of corrections is in charge of probation when this is fulfilling its executive function. On the other side, the local courts or the state judiciary is responsible for probation officers when it plays its judicial role. Probation’s law enforcement function belongs to the executive branch and its social role fit into the judiciary branch (probation officers bound by the will of the court). Probation, as an alternative to incarceration, is one of the most frequent sentences used in United States. It brings benefits to the individual and the government. The offender receives a sentence while not staying in prison, and the government saves money on not sending the offender to incarceration. Juvenile offenders occupy a decent number on the probation system. More than half of juveniles who receive a juvenile court sanction are placed on probation (Worrall, 2008). This could have the explanation that our criminal justice system is more dependent on community sanctions than prison or punitive sanctions. Due...
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...|Trying Juveniles as Adults in Criminal Court: An Analysis of State Transfer Provisions Report, December 1998 Patrick Griffin Patricia Torbet Linda Szymanski National Center for Juvenile Justice Shay Bilchik, Administrator Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [pic] Table of Contents Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction Transfer Provisions Waiver Direct File Statutory Exclusion Reverse Waiver Once an Adult/Always an Adult Additional Analyses Transfer for Nonviolent Offenses Additional Pretransfer Findings Required Clear and Convincing Evidence Standard Special Transfer Treatment Based on Prior Record Devices To Limit Prosecutorial Discretion Minimum Age Provisions Appendix: Summary of Transfer Laws Share With Your Colleagues Publications From OJJDP List of Tables Most States Have a Combination of Transfer Provisions Summary of Transfer Provisions, 1997 Discretionary Waiver: Minimum Age and Offense Criteria, 1997 Mandatory Waiver: Minimum Age and Offense Criteria, 1997 Presumptive Waiver: Minimum Age and Offense Criteria, 1997 Direct File: Minimum Age and Offense Criteria, 1997 Statutory Exclusion: Minimum Age and Offense Criteria, 1997 Minimum Age and Offenses for Which a Juvenile Can Be Transferred to Criminal Court in Every...
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...An Overview of Juvenile Delinquency in the United States 1. Introduction Juvenile delinquency regards crimes that are committed by individuals under the age of 18. Juveniles can be treated as adults depending on the nature of the crimes. Misdemeanors are minor crimes that don’t carry harsh penalties although felony related offenses do. Each state has juvenile courts that deal with juvenile delinquency. In 2010, there were a total of 308,745,538 juvenile delinquents living in the United States. This large has caused an increased concern about the number of youths that are committing crimes of all kinds. Major causes of juvenile delinquency are a lack of employment opportunities, little to no education and drug addiction among the parents. Juveniles that live with parents that have substance abuse problems often exhibit negative behaviors that result in crime. One program, “Beyond Scared Straight” has been highlighted in the media recently because it uses scare tactics to help juveniles avoid crime and the resulting jail time. This paper will provide an over of juvenile delinquency by defining it in terms of prevalence, causes and interventions. 2. Juvenile Delinquency Defined Each state in the United States have pre-established laws that define juveniles. Roberts concludes that individuals that have not turned 18 are juveniles in the eyes of the law. However, juveniles can be tried as adults if they commit serious crimes such as murder and robbery (Roberts). This has...
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...Criminal Justice Deborah Carr, J.D. Juvenile court is a specific court which deals with young adults who violate federal, state, and county laws. The court also addresses children and young adults who have been abused sexually, physically or emotional and mentally, dependent upon drugs or neglected. Most juveniles will be seen in this court until the age of eighteen. There is then an additional facility that may house young offenders from 18-25. If an offender needs further incarceration to finish their sentence then they will be sent to adult facility once they turn 25. In recent years however some crimes are so heinous that young adults have been tried as adults in adult court subject to those rules. The definition of delinquency is the behavior of a person that is a violation of the law. It is a continued disobedient behavior that does not seem to be able to be corrected by community leaders, church or parents. The offender is then handed over to the juvenile courts for correction. Status offenses are based on behavior of status offenders. A status offender is the special category that encompasses a specific genre of offender. In this case it is based on children who violate laws specific to them such as truancy from school, running away from home and basic disrespect of parents and laws. Some basic similarities exist in both courts. Both courts are there to punish the offender and protect the community. Adult courts are based on an offender being a criminal...
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...Position Paper The purpose of this paper is to convince you through information and evidence my belief of what needs to happen in the juvenile justice system in order to make a difference in our children’s lives. My belief’s is that we need to make comprehensive plans for the juvenile offenders including both rehabilitation and punishment efforts. I do not believe rehabilitation nor punishment will work on their own and need to be used together to ensure the correct message is being sent to our youth. In my opinion there has to be education at a young age, rehabilitation and punishment in each individual’s plan. Juvenile Court Juvenile courts were first introduced into the United States court system in 1899. In 1899, the first juvenile court was finally established in Cook County, Illinois, and by 1925, all but two states had followed (Center On Juvenile & Criminal Justice, n.d.). The main purpose of juvenile courts was to make sure that adolescents were not treated and punished like adults and rehabilitation was thought to be the main way helping the youth. Why is juvenile court so important? The juvenile court system is very important to the youth of our country. This court not only ensures there will be consequences for illegal activity done by minors, but also helps to protect adolescents from being treated like adults. These courts take into consideration that minors do not have the same thought processes that adults do, and is able to take other factors such...
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...The juvenile court was created in the early 20th century when it was recognized that children and adults are different, and the rehabilitation process for them should be different as well. Until the late 19th century children and adults where tried alike in criminal courts. When a juvenile offender commits a crime it is the responsibility of the state to rehabilitate the juvenile offenders, as well as protect them. Youth crime rates have actually declined over the past twenty years, despite the public’s perception that it has increased. This has led to an overwhelming support that the juvenile court system be restructured to include tougher crime punishment, such as being able to try children as adults. This belief is that children are able to commit the same crimes as adults, and why should they be treated any different. Take for instance that if an adult commits a murder they will likely be in prison for the rest of their life, whereas a child or youth offender would likely be out by the time they are twenty one. Juvenile and criminal courts have many differences but the most outstanding is that juvenile courts tend to focus on the offender rather than the crime itself. Juvenile court is long believed to focus on the rehabilitation of the offender, as opposed to the focus of the crime as in criminal court. With rehabilitation in mind this gives the court much more leniency and flexibility, with options as far as punishment goes to the judge. The main concern in the public’s...
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...Paper Kendra V. Castro Maldonado CJA/374 Juvenile System and Process July 29, 2014 Prof. Victor Candelario- Vega Crime Causation and Diversion Paper As a prerequisite for the course, we were to analyze two different programs for juvenile offenders, this could be to prevent, to intervene or divert juveniles into committing any crime. On this paper, you will find two-intervention programs practiced in Puerto Rico, in a wish are focused to a certain type of crime or accountability. Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws. The program EUDL is focused on the prohibition of selling alcoholic beverages to minors, and it also focuses on the purchase and consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors. OJJDP's EUDL program supports and enhances efforts by States and local jurisdictions to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors. The program encourages close partnerships between law enforcement agencies and community groups involved in preventing and intervening in underage drinking. OJJDP also offers comprehensive training and technical assistance to guide States and communities in their efforts. Underage drinking contributes to youth violence, traffic injuries and fatalities, crime, suicide, high-risk sex, and a host of other problems. In 2005, underage drinkers (defined as individuals younger than21 years old) consumed 15 percent of all alcohol sold in the United States (Miller, 2006). To address this serious problem, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP's)...
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...Padilla DeVry University Lance Arnold Intro to Criminal Justice 02/07/2013 I believe treating juveniles as adults is a good law to ensure that they can go to jail and receive time for a crime they committed. I think no matter what age a person is they should learn a lesson by doing their punishment or do hour services for the community. If a child that can pick up a dangerous weapon and harm an innocent person they knows what is right or wrong. They know that they can get in trouble for it. They should expect the consequences are going to be giving to them. My offer, point of view to prevent things like this is that children and adults should take delinquency programs. They can get counseling, get other services where they can get help to get their life straighten out, and prevent them from getting in trouble in the future. During the 1990s, nearly every state passed more punitive justice laws making it easier to try juveniles in adult court. More and more teens are doing time alongside adults in prison. This represents society’s recent shift towards taking a harsher view of adolescent’s culpability. When a juvenile is charge with certain felony offenses, his or her case may be transferred to the adult criminal division where a juvenile will be prosecuted in the same way as adults charge with laws violations. When a child is found guilty or pleads guilty in adult court and is sentenced as an adult, that child is forever considered an adult for the future violations of...
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...Juvenile Court System Felicia Simmons CJS/200 10/13/2012 Monty H, Mathis M.Ed Juvenile Court The juvenile court system takes into different consideration when it comes to juveniles. They look at the age of the juvenile as well as the nature of the offense or crime that has been committed. Although the nature of the offense or crime will not ensure that the juvenile will be charged as an adult. In the juvenile court system when a minor commits a crime they are referred to as delinquent not criminals. Juveniles are not arrest they taken into custody and also in court a juvenile case can have adjustment made so that the minor may be sent home or placed in a detention facility, or a child care shelter. At this point the juvenile will be a findings hearing or adjudication hearing. If the juvenile is sentenced they can be sentenced from a range of different things such as commitment to a youth center, treatment, training schools. Before the juvenile is released they might be moved to a residential childcare facility or an aftercare facility. Adult Court System In the adult court system age isn’t a big factor at all, but the courts do look at pass offense as well as any other background or criminal history. Adults are refereed as criminal and they may chose to plead guilty, not guilty or no contest to any charges that they may be facing. An adult offender that is in the due process stage will either be sent to jail or they get a reduction in the charges that they have...
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