1. Pretrial Procedures Transfer hearings Detention Intake Diversion
Petition and pretrial release
Bail and preventive detention
Plea bargaining (adjustment)

2. Transfer to adult court
Transfer, waiver, bindover, removal
Concurrent jurisdiction
Excluded offenses (traffic, serious)
Number of excluded offenses has increased
Judicial waiver to adult court

3. Kent v. U.S.
Waived to adult court, despite requests for a psychiatric evaluation, access to social service file, motions for a hearing
Found guilty in adult court for housebreaking and robbery, not guilty by reason of insanity for rape

4. Kent v U.S. (1966) Court ruled that cases of waiver required:
A hearing
Access to counsel and access by counsel to social service records
Reason for the decision

5. Criteria to be considered
Seriousness of offense
Aggressive or violent
Maturity of juvenile
Record of the juvenile
Public protection
Potential for rehabilitation

6. Breed v. Jones Petition filed and he was adjudicated
Found unfit for juvenile court at disposition hearing
Transferred to adult court
Found guilty
U.S. Supreme Court determined that this was double jeopardy (5th amendment

7. Transfer hearings Full hearing Notice Right to counsel
Statement for reasons

8. Debate over transfer Get tough vs. rehabilitation
1% now transferred (drugs most common)
Cases waived increased in early 1990s, number has now been decreasing

9. Debate
Waivers do not necessarily increase public protection; result may be the same in both juvenile and adult court
In one study., only 3% of juveniles tried in adult court received longer sentences than they would have received in juvenile court (1996)

10. Debate
However, in another study those waived to adult court received significantly greater sentences than those retained in juvenile court (1986)
Another problem is that transfers might be motivated by political considerations rather than the case

11. Debate
One study found that juveniles transferred to adult court no more dangerous than those retained
Transfer decisions not consistent: appears to be racial disparity
Problem of prosecutorial discretion: in some jurisdictions prosecutor makes the decision

12. Debate
Need for transfer for very serious cases: juvenile justice system not set up to deal with such cases
Juveniles transferred have greater security risks, less swift punishment, lower conviction rates, shorter incarceration, higher recidivism

13. Detention
Temporary care of youths by the state in a physically restricted facility pending court disposition or transfer to another placement
Shelter care: temporary care in physically unrestricting facilities

14. Detention
Movement to remove status offenders and dependent/neglected to less secure facilities, such as temporary foster care
60% of detainees are delinquent
Many status offenders are runaways
Increasing number of drug offenses

15. Detention Increase in the use of detention
Majority are detained briefly and released to parents, screened by intake probation officers
No uniform criteria for detention decisions
Race, class and # of parents might have an influence

16. Detention decision
NCCD recommends that the standards should be: likelihood of new offense, a danger to themselves or community, or likelihood of running away
Most jurisdictions require a detention hearing to extend the period of detention beyond 24 hours

17. Detention hearing This hearing should be: Without delay
Right to notice and counsel
Provision of services

18. Detaining juveniles in adult jails
More common in rural areas
Risk of victimization
Few services
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act amended in 1989 to require states to remove juveniles from adult jails
Not clear how often this happens—most common estimate 100,000/year

19. Intake Screening of cases by the juvenile justice system
Decisions: send the youth home, diversion, file a petition, file a petition and detain
Consent decrees and informal probation or informal adjustment

20. Intake
Considerations: age, offense, prior record, cooperativeness of child and parents, whether the youth can get appropriate services elsewhere
Legal rights?
Intake traditionally handled by juvenile probation
Increased role of the prosecutor

21. Diversion
Screening out children from the juvenile court without judicial decision
Roots: labeling theory
Common criteria for diversion: nonviolent or status offender, or alcohol or drug problem, age, no serious priors

22. Diversion
Variety of mechanisms through probation, the court, the prosecutor. Successful participation necessary to avoid court action
In some jurisdictions, 50% of youths are diverted
Net widening

23. Petition
Filing a petition—can be filed by police, parents, probation, or other social service agency
If the child admits to the allegations, a hearing might be scheduled and a treatment plan developed
Otherwise, adjudication hearing set

24. Pretrial Probation does an assessment
Right to notice (youth, counsel and parents)
Continued detention?
No right to bail, because it is a civil proceeding, can be released to parents, detention is supposed to be rehabilitative, not punitive

25. Bail Some states do allow for bail for youths
All the problems of the bail system then apply
Without bail, youths have few rights

26. Preventive detention
Detaining a person because of his/her suspected danger to the community and because he/she might commit more crimes
Can a person be detained for acts he/she has not yet committed?
Supreme Court eventually upheld preventive detention for adults, but it is seldom explicitly applied

27. Preventive detention
All states do allow for the preventive detention of juveniles, because although adults have a right to liberty, juveniles have a right to custody, and can be detained for their own protection

28. Schall v. Martin
Detention based on prediction of future behavior not a violation of due process
Must be procedural safeguards, such as notice, a hearing and a statement of facts, before placement in detention

29. Plea bargaining
Not a part of the juvenile court originally, not seen as necessary because the court was there to help
Increasing role of the prosecutor
Most states have now addressed and regulate the practice, but the amount of regulation varies widely
More formal in urban areas

30. Plea Bargaining
Considerable debate over whether it should be used in the juvenile system
It appears to be much less common in the JJS as compared to the adult system, but on the increase
Less common because some of the incentives to plea bargain are less important in the juvenile system (I.e. dropping a felony to a misdemeanor)