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Advantages of the Juvenile Justice System

The juvenile justice system was established with the aim of giving juvenile offenders another chance in life without a criminal record tainting the rest of their lives. The juvenile system helps to rehabilitate juvenile offenders.

The juvenile system treats juvenile offenders differently compared to criminal offenders. It focused on juvenile offenders as young people in need of correction and not as criminals who deserve to be punished. They are treated lightly compared to criminal offenders. The offences committed by juvenile offenders are referred to as delinquencies instead of crimes (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2001). If they are found culpable for committing an offence, they are adjudicated delinquent instead of being found guilty. They are given light penalties such as community service or probation. Others are sent to training schools instead of prisons. Juvenile court proceedings are usually kept from the public eye and records kept confidential. Knowingly leaking confidential records of public offenders is a crime. This is to make reintegration of the juvenile offender back to the community easier. Juvenile court judges are expected to act in the best interests of the offender since he/she is considered a child.

Juvenile offenders have rights that apply to them. A law enforcement officer must have probable cause to arrest a juvenile accused of committing a delinquency. However, other persons who have power to arrest a juvenile such as school authorities only need reasonable suspicion that the juvenile has committed a delinquency. Once a juvenile is arrested, he/she has the right to call his/her parent or an attorney. If law enforcement officers ignore a juvenile’s request to speak to his/her parent or an attorney, anything the minor says will be inadmissible in a court of law. a juvenile also has the right to be represented by an attorney and to plead the Fifth Amendment to avoid giving self-incriminating evidence. Just like criminal proceedings, delinquencies must be proved against a juvenile offender beyond reasonable doubt.

There are concerns that juvenile offenders don’t have the absolute right to seek bail. Juvenile offenders too should be given the chance to have their cases conducted without being detained. Another concern is that they are treated lightly compared to criminal offenders while the impact of their wrongdoing in the community is the same. This concern is not valid because of the benefit that the juvenile justice system brings to juvenile offenders – a second chance in society without a record to haunt the offender who is later reintegrated back to the society.

References

National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2001). The Juvenile Justice System. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice, 154-162.

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