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 A NEWSLETTER OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN JUVENILE LAW AND RESEARCH PROVIDED BY THE NATIONAL JUVENILE JUSTICE PROSECUTION CENTER
Volume I, Issue 1, July 2003
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RECENT CASES
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| MIRANDA/WAIVER |
Alvarado v. Hickman, 316 F.3d 841 (9th Cir. 2002)—The federal court held that a juvenile’s age is a factor which must be considered when a court assesses whether a suspect is “in custody” for the purpose of a Miranda analysis. The Court held that “a juvenile is more susceptible to police coercion during a custodial interrogation than would be a similarly situated adult, [therefore] there is no reason why the same juvenile would not similarly be less capable of determining whether he was, in fact, in custody in the first place.” As a result, the determination of whether a “reasonable person” would have considered himself in custody must include a consideration of the juvenile’s age, experience, availability of parents or other adults to consult, etc.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0056770p.pdf
Commonwealth v. Alfonso A., 438 Mass 372 (Mass. 2003)—Police did not provide a “genuine opportunity” for “meaningful consultation” with parent or interested adult required for a statement to be admissible when they offered to pick up a 15-year-old suspect’s mother and bring her to location where custodial questioning was occurring, or to allow the juvenile to consult with unrelated adults who were present. However, the court held, evidence like the juvenile’s invocation of his right to remain silent in response to some questions may indicate sufficient sophistication by the juvenile to excuse the absence of a parent during questioning.
http://www.malawyersweekly.com/archives/ma/opin/sup/1000403.htm
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COMPETENCY
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In re K.G., 781 N.E.2d 700 (Ind. 2002)—Indiana court holds that juveniles have a Constitutional right under the 14th Amendment to a determination of their competency to stand trial. The Indiana Court of Appeals held that such a right was a necessary corollary to the right to counsel recognized in In re Gault. Since Indiana has no statutes specifying the procedures to be followed in juvenile courts for competency determinations, the Court held that the statutes governing adult competency hearings should be used in juvenile court.
http://www.ai.org/judiciary/opinions/wpd/12310201.ewn.doc
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RECKLESSNESS
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J.R. v. State, 62 P.3d 114 (Alaska Ct. App. 2003)—In a juvenile prosecution for second degree murder, the Court held that the jury should be instructed that the “reasonable person” standard of care for the “reckless conduct” element of the offense means a “reasonable juvenile,” not a “reasonable adult.”
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/alaskastatecases/2003/ap-1850.pdf
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CONFIDENTIALITY/SEX OFFENDERS
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Commonwealth v. Carter, 2003 Pa. Super 131 (2003)—The Court affirmed a trial court’s use of records created by psychiatrists and others treating the defendant during his juvenile delinquency probation in determining whether the defendant, now an adult, is a sexually violent predator under Pennsylvania’s Registration of Sexual Offenders Act. The Court held that the statutory exceptions to the confidentiality of juvenile records, as well as the public-safety purpose common to both the juvenile act and the registration act, made the use of defendant’s prior records acceptable under both sets of statutes. The court did leave open, however, the possibility that some of the records might be protected by the psychiatrist/patient privilege.
http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/Superior/out/A28005_02.PDF
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Bullying, Not Terrorist Attack, Biggest Threat Seen by U.S. Teens
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The National Crime Prevention Council recently published results of a survey of high school students which indicates that they are far more worried about bullying in their schools than terrorist threats. Most alarmingly, the survey shows significant increases in the rates of school bullying. The survey indicated that the number of students reporting daily observation of bullying in their school has risen from 37 percent in 2001 to 61 percent in 2002, a 60% increase in one year.
http://www.jointogether.org/z/0,2522,556109,00.html
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Adolescents May Be More Prone To Addiction Due To Biology of Brain Development
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A recent study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry indicates a possible connection between the biology of adolescent brain development and chemical addiction. The study was a meta-analysis of 140 other studies. It theorized a connection between addiction and the changes occurring in the brain as a youth goes through adolescence. An abstract of the study can be found by clicking on the AJP link above, or read an article about the study at: http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/summaries/reader/0%2C1854%2C564227%2C00.html
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Bulletin Series on Child Delinquency
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| OJJDP Bulletins |
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OJJDP has begun publishing the results of its “Study Group on Very Young Offenders.” The group, led by Dr. Rolf Loeber, was charged with studying and reporting on what OJJDP calls “Child Delinquency,” or criminal acts by children ages 7-12. OJJDP believes that those offenders face a greater risk of becoming serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders than those whose criminal activity begins in adolescence. The Study Group has published four Bulletins which give overviews of the group’s findings. Child Delinquency: Early Intervention and Prevention, May, 2003; Prevalence and Development of Child Delinquency, March, 2003; Risk and Protective Factors of Child Delinquency, April, 2003; and Treatment, Services, and Intervention Programs for Child Delinquency, March, 2003. Click on the title to be taken to a downloadable PDF version of each document or go to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service Web site, http://puborder.ncjrs.org/Content/search.asp to order a printed copy.
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Juveniles In Court
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| OJJDP National Report Series |
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After a fairly simplistic overview of the juvenile court process, this report provides a substantial amount of statistical information which may be of interest to juvenile court prosecutors. For example, it gives state-by-state comparisons of the state laws on issues pertaining to prosecuting juvenile offenders as adults for certain crimes. It also summarizes juvenile prosecution information broken down by such factors as gender, age, and race of the offender, the type of crime committed, and the disposition after adjudication. The document can be downloaded in a PDF format at http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/195420.pdf or ordered in a paper version at http://puborder.ncjrs.org/Content/search.asp.
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Desktop Guide to Juvenile Probation Practice (2002)
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| National Center for Juvenile Justice |
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The Desktop Guide was originally issued in 1991 and was distributed to juvenile probation departments throughout the country. The current edition contains a comprehensive treatment of theory and practice of juvenile probation, a collection of standards and best practice information, and a fundamental skills training curriculum. The publication has been updated with current practice and information, and reissued. It is available for purchase in a spiral bound edition or for free on the Internet. http://brendan.ncjfcj.unr.edu/homepage/ncjj/ncjj2/whatsnew/whatsnew.htm
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WEB RESOURCES
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| National Criminal Justice Reference Service |
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National Criminal Justice Reference Service—At this Web site the U.S. Department of Justice collects and distributes most of the extensive body of written material generated or funded by the sub-agencies of DOJ, such as OJJDP. Most of the material is available for download in the PDF format, or can be ordered in paper copies, most for free. http://virlib.ncjrs.org/JuvenileJustice.asp
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| SafetyZone.com |
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SafetyZone.com—This Web site, operated by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, a private non-profit organization, maintains an extensive library of materials and publications related to school safety issues. Notably the NWREL has recently published a series of eight school safety guides which can be downloaded at the Web site, or ordered on a CD-ROM. http://www.safetyzone.org/index.html
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EMERGING ISSUES
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Trick or Treatment: Teen drug programs turn curious teens into crack heads
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| Slate Online Magazine By Maia Szalavitz |
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In this article, the author suggests the possibility that too many teenagers are being sent to drug treatment when they are not truly addicted. As a result, she asks the questions: “What if, rather than decreasing drug use, teen treatment actually encourages it by labeling experimenting kids as lifelong addicts? What if it creates the worst sorts of peer groups by mixing kids with mild problems with serious drug users who are ready and willing to teach them to be junkies? What if suggestible kids respond poorly to the philosophies that have made Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous successful for many adults? Then we'd be using treatment to turn ordinary adolescents into problem drug abusers.” http://slate.msn.com/id/2076329
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 This information is offered for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. This project was supported by Award No. 2002-MU-MU-0003 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the United States Department of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the National District Attorneys Association, or the American Prosecutors Research Institute. |
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