Mike Fitzgerald and Desiree Maldonado California’s Juvenile Justice System

PURPOSE OF SYSTEM To focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment Providing significantly more education, treatment, and counseling programs than adult offenders

Juvenile Arrests by Gender, Age, and Race Juvenile ArrestsCalifornia Youth Pop. Total222,5124, Male74%51% Female2649 Black 17 17%8% Hispanic4846 White2833 Other714 Ages %24% Ages Ages

FELONY  California Penal Code: classifies felonies as “violent” or “serious” MISDEMEANOR  Punishable by probation, jail, a fine or a combination of the three Types of Crimes Dealt With

How Prevalent is Juvenile Crime in CA ? Misdemeanor crimes account for 60% of all juvenile arrests!

System is Mainly a Local Responsibility when referred to probation about one-half result in the filing of a petition with the juvenile for a court hearing. Judge decides whether to make offender ward of the state Juveniles are declared wards almost two-thirds of the time Juveniles tried in adult court for serious crimes are placed in DJJ facility until their 18 th birthday where they are transferred to a state prison.

Local And State Responsibilities LOCAL LEVEL Counties are responsible for 98% of all juvenile offender cases STATE LEVEL  Provides the same services as DJJ, just to a smaller # of remaining delinquents who are involved in the most serious crime.  Offenders held in state facilities has dropped from 7600 in 1999 to 3000 in 2005  State spends most of it’s money trying to improve these programs

Origin of American Juvenile Justice System Before the 19 th century children were viewed as miniature adults Houses of Refuge began in 1925 in New York By the 1940’s 53 states had joined New York, including California

California Youth Authority Created in 1941 C.Y.A. is the largest institution devoted to helping young delinquent children in the U.S. The organization handled children and young adults from ages 12 to 25 Because of abuse the organization was changed to the Division of Juvenile Justice

Dysfunction in the Division of Juvenile Justice In 1996 more that 10,000 young adults were being taken care of by the DJJ That is an enormous amount of individuals to receive the proper amount of attention. Overcrowding and poor recidivism rates have led to dysfunction in the institution. From 2004 to 2007 there have been 13,000 claims of abuse in the United States of Juvenile correction centers

Court Case at the N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility In 2004 guards were caught on videotape brutally beating the young adults In 2005, Joseph Daniel Maldonado was found hung in his cell Joseph was placed in solitary confinement for 8 weeks prior to committing suicide. The officials that ran the detention center lost personal information pertaining to his file. Contributed to the movement against these juvenile detention centers in California.

What do we think? California has one of the largest Juvenile Justice Systems in America. Throughout the years of it’s existence the CYA and DJJ have been plagued with cases of abuse. Currently the government is attempting to get rid of the Juvenile Justice System all together It does however, help a lot of juveniles reintegrate into society. When grading California Juvenile Justice system we believe it deserves a C-.