Juvenile Court in the United States
State level court that hears matters involving minors. Juvenile courts have jurisdiction over minors accused of criminal conduct and minors who may be the victims of abuse or neglect. Some states place their juvenile jurisdiction in a separate court, while other states create family courts that also hear domestic relations issues. Each state specifies a maximum age for persons under the jurisdiction of juvenile court. The line is typically established as either 16 or 18 years of age. The juvenile courts conduct delinquency hearings to determine if minors are guilty of criminal conduct. Delinquency hearings have become quite formal and in many ways now closely resemble an adult criminal trial. The charges in such proceedings essentially duplicate adult criminal charges, e.g., burglary, auto theft, assault. Juveniles found to be delinquent then have a dispositional hearing where treatment or remedy is determined. In some cases, juveniles may be institutionalized, in which case the outcome resembles a prison sentence for an adult offender. Juvenile court authority over a person terminates when the designated age is reached. If a juvenile has an extensive record, is approaching the age boundary, and is accused of serious criminal conduct, the juvenile court may relinquish jurisdiction and have the person prosecuted as an adult. Juvenile authorities also engage in supervision of those juveniles involved with status offenses. Those are offenses, such as truancy or incorrigibility, that stem from juvenile “status.” There are no adult counterparts for such offenses.
See Also
Limited Jurisdiction Court (Judicial Organization) Specialized Court (Judicial Organization).
Analysis and Relevance
The roots of the juvenile court go back to the English legal system. The separate and specialized treatment of juveniles was built on the concept of parens patriae—that the state acts as the parent of the country. Accordingly, the state ought to treat juveniles as a benevolent parent rather than in the adversarial manner it treats adults. As a result, juvenile courts were to be nonadversarial in character and juvenile proceedings informal. Juvenile proceedings came to be regarded as civil and largely free from due process expectations. Indeed, the parens patriae approach led to insensitivity to legal procedures. The U.S. Supreme Court dramatically modified these practices beginning in the mid-1960s with a series of decisions that extended constitutional protections to juvenile proceedings. The major case was In re Gault (378 U.S. 1: 1966), which held that delinquency proceedings that may lead to detention must provide juveniles with access to counsel (appointed counsel in the event of indigency), adequate notification of charges, the right to confront accusers, and the privilege against self-incrimination. The procedural requirements have been formalized to the extent that juvenile courts provide most of the constitutional protections afforded adults, although certain differences remain.
Notes and References
- Definition of Juvenile Court from the American Law Dictionary, 1991, California
Practical Information
Note: Some of this information was last updated in 1982
See courts of special jurisdiction (in U.S. law).
What is Juvenile Court?
For a meaning of it, read Juvenile Court in the Legal Dictionary here. Browse and search more U.S. and international free legal definitions and legal terms related to Juvenile Court.
Juvenile Court
Introduction to Juvenile Court
Juvenile Court, authority charged with the disposition of legal actions involving children. Although the U.S. juvenile court has changed considerably since its beginning in 1899, the overall goal is still the same: to act as would a wise and loving parent helping a child with problems. Investigating the problems and needs of a child was very informal during the first 60 years. By 1967, however, dissatisfaction resulted in changes that by the 1980s made juvenile court proceedings similar to those in criminal court.” (1)
Resources
Notes and References
- Information about Juvenile Court in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia
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