AMERICA’S JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IS NOT BROKEN

JAMES C. BACKSTROM1
DAKOTA COUNTY ATTORNEY

December 31, 2007

NOTE: This article is in response to an editorial written by Shay Bilchik and published in the Washington Times on December 16, 2007. Because of copyright issues, a copy of Shay Bilchik's article cannot be posted in the website. Contact susan.broderick@ndaa.org to get a copy.

I read with concern the recent commentary of Shay Bilchik (December 16, 2007) urging reform of the so called “get tough” policies of America’s juvenile codes, including curtailing of the ability of states to transfer juveniles to adult court for prosecution. Mr. Bilchik’s article was based upon some misleading facts and examples and reaches a misguided conclusion. America’s juvenile justice system is not broken or in need of reform.

The changes made to most state’s juvenile codes in the 1990’s were not overly harsh on juvenile offenders. Rather, these laws strike a proper balance between protecting public safety, holding youth appropriately accountable for their crimes and rehabilitating youthful offenders. Contrary to the implications in Mr. Bilchik’s article, the vast majority of youthful offenders in America are prosecuted in juvenile court. Few jurisdictions in our country prosecute more than 1-2 % of juvenile offenders as adults and in some jurisdictions this statistic is even lower. Also, few prosecutors in America would ever seek to charge as an adult a youth who merely sells marijuana, which was the misleading centerpiece example used by Mr. Bilchik.

Some exceptions exist, like the highly praised program in Jacksonville, Florida, where many youth charged with lower level felonies are prosecuted in adult court. These youth, however, receive sentences to a segregated youth-only section of the county jail, where the primary focus of their incarceration is on education and rehabilitation. This “adult court prosecution” may well be the best thing that ever happens to these troubled kids. Since this program was implemented, juvenile crime in the Jacksonville area has dropped significantly.

One of the primary fallacies of statistics misused by Mr. Bilchik and others to suggest that too many juveniles are prosecuted as adults in America is that these statistics are based upon using age 18 as the age of criminal majority. This is not the reality in all states in America. In fact, 13 states have a lower age of majority for purposes of criminal prosecution, and yet in computing the statistics as to the number of “juveniles” prosecuted as adults, 16- or 17-year old youth in these states who are adults under the law are treated as if they were juveniles transferred to the adult system. That is why the statistic claiming that 200,000 or more “juveniles” are prosecuted as adults each year in America for minor crimes is meaningless unless the age of majority issue is properly factored into such an analysis.

The simple fact of the matter is that juveniles who commit serious and violent crimes, particularly older youth, should in most instances face adult court sanctions. So, too, must this remedy be available for youth who have committed less serious felonies who have a long history of convictions for crime after crime for which no juvenile court disposition has been effective. I believe that if this question is fairly framed, as it seldom is in discussions of this important topic, most Americans would agree.

The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) supports a balanced approach to juvenile justice which properly takes into consideration all relevant factors in deciding what criminal charge should be filed against a juvenile offender and whether the case should be disposed of in juvenile or adult court or handled under a “blended sentencing” model in those states incorporating this middle ground approach of addressing juvenile crime. 𠇋lended sentencing” models, which have been endorsed by the NDAA, currently exist in 15 states in America and represent a combination of both juvenile and adult criminal sanctions for serious, violent or habitual juvenile offenders whose crimes have been determined by either a prosecutor or a judge to not warrant immediate prosecution in adult court.

Articles such as Mr. Bilchik’s reflect an inappropriate attack upon America’s juvenile codes and wrongly cast aspersions upon prosecutors and judges who thoughtfully and professionally enforce those codes with fairness and impartiality every day. Not only are mitigating factors, such as a juvenile offender’s age and maturity and amenability to treatment and probation properly considered in the decision-making process at every stage of the handling of a juvenile crime, including whether juvenile offenders should properly face adult court sanctions for their actions, so too must aggravating factors be considered, such as the severity of the crime, the threat to public safety, the impact upon the victims and the offender’s criminal history. These factors are properly weighed in the decision making process each and every day by prosecutors and judges throughout America and as a result, America’s system of juvenile justice is properly balanced and not in need of reform.

Publication/Americas Juvenile Justice System is Not Broken

Footnote:

1 James C. Backstrom is the Dakota County Attorney in Hastings, Minnesota. He also serves as co-chair of the National District Attorneys Association’s Juvenile Justice and Family Law Committee.

NEWS ARTICLES:

ATTACKS ON THE HOMELESS RISE, WITH YOUTHS MOSTLY TO BLAME

AlcWarren Messner was 15 when he and some friends attacked a homeless man and left him for dead. Mr. Messner jumped on a log laid across the man’s ribs. He does not know why. He was high, does not remember much and wants to forget the rest.

Today Mr. Messner is a baby-faced 18-year-old serving 22 years for second-degree murder. He used to like skipping school and listening to rap music with friends. He imagined he eventually would help his father install flooring. Now he talks to his parents nearly every night from the maximum-security Cross City Correctional Institution.

“It was just a senseless crime.” he said, his eyes down, his shoulders slumped. “I wish it would have never happened. It made no sense. It was stupidity.”

Mr. Messner’s story is not unusual. Nationwide, violence against the homeless is soaring, and overwhelmingly the attackers are teenagers and young adults. In Florida the problem is so severe that the National Coalition for the Homeless is setting up speakers bureaus to address a culture that sees attacking the homeless as a sport. It is the first time the organization has singled out a particular state.

Of more than 142 unprovoked attacks on homeless people in 2007, the most — at least 32 — were in Florida, according to a preliminary count by the coalition and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. Nationwide, such attacks rose about 65 percent from 2005.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/us/15homeless.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

GRAPPLING WITH AGE OF ADULT TRIAL

At what age should a teenager accused of a crime be tried as an adult?

That the answer is far from simple was very clear Thursday at a gathering in Greensboro of people involved with juvenile justice from across the state.

North Carolina is one of just two states in which 16-year-olds are routinely tried as adults. Some recent studies have called for raising the cutoff age to 18, and the legislature might consider a change in the law next year.

Supporters of raising the age, including the child advocacy group Action for Children North Carolina, say doing so would enable troubled teenagers to find the help they need to get on the right track instead of being thrown into an adult system where the likelihood of being a repeat offender increases. Because adolescent brains are still developing, teenagers are more likely to succumb to peer pressure, but they also have the greatest chance to be rehabilitated, the group said in a December report.

Those against raising the cutoff age say it would be expensive, would overburden the criminal justice system and would increase the chance teenagers are not adequately punished for serious crimes.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/crime_safety/story/946094.html

STATE JUVENILE JUSTICE CHANGING DIRECTIONS

Rehabilitation, not jail, part of change

Kentucky's juvenile justice system is undergoing a major shift in philosophy -- dropping what critics said had been an emphasis on incarceration and punishment in favor of the treatment and rehabilitation required by law.

"I don't want to hear the word incarceration used in conjunction with juveniles," said J. Michael Brown, the new secretary of justice and public safety. "Our mission is to treat the juveniles, the children that are entrusted to our care."

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080210/NEWS01/802100481/1008/ARCHIVES

President Bush Establishes Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs

On February 7, President Bush signed an Executive Order establishing the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, a coalition of Federal agencies that will help support communities and organizations working on behalf of our nation's youth.

The order builds on the success of Helping America's Youth, a three-year interagency initiative announced by President Bush in his 2005 State of the Union address. The President asked Mrs. Bush to lead this nationwide effort to raise awareness about the challenges facing our youth, particularly at-risk boys, and to motivate caring adults to connect with youth in three key areas: family, school, and community. As the leader of this Initiative, Mrs. Bush has hosted one national conference and five regional conferences, and participated in 125 other Helping America's Youth activities in 24 states and the District of Columbia to promote the efforts of youth-serving organizations.

In her remarks during the signing ceremony, Mrs. Bush commended the Community Guide to Helping America's Youth as "a terrific online resource" that "allows caring adults to use the Internet to learn more about the challenges facing children."

Resources:

For access the President's Executive Order, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/02/20080207-15.html.

For additional information about the Helping America's Youth Initiative, visit http://www.helpingamericasyouth.gov/.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice.

KIDS KILLING KIDS TESTS JUSTICE SYSTEM

He stands 4-feet-11 and weighs 90 pounds. He reads Hardy Boys mystery novels. He watches TV cartoons.

Depending on an upcoming decision by Broward prosecutors, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

A 12-year-old Lauderhill boy, who has been charged with killing his 17-month-old cousin Jan. 4 with a wooden baseball bat, is the latest preteen who may face adult time with grown-up prisoners. The state's juvenile justice system provides few other options.

''This type of case challenges all of us -- prosecutors, public defenders and judges,'' said Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, whose office is defending the boy.

Said Frank Orlando, a retired Broward juvenile judge who now heads the Center for the Study of Youth Policy at Nova Southeastern University's law school: ``This isn't the last time this is going to happen. There are a number of states that have so advanced the issue of how you deal with these kids that it makes Florida look silly.''

The 12-year-old was arrested by Lauderhill police one day after he called emergency dispatchers to report that a toddler he was baby-sitting apparently had stopped breathing. He was charged with first-degree murder, and Broward prosecutors have yet to decide whether he will be tried as an adult or remain in juvenile court.

If he is indicted as an adult, and convicted of first-degree murder, a judge may have no choice but to sentence him to life imprisonment. Another Broward youth, Lionel Tate, received such punishment until then-Gov. Jeb Bush commuted his sentence, partly in response to widespread condemnation.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/v-print/story/384070.html

REPORT: SCHOOL SLAYINGS DOWN FROM 1990S

About 16 students are murdered at U.S. schools each year, says a new government report that shows the number and rate of slayings has held steady and is lower than in the previous decade.

"Schools remain safe places for students," said report co-author Jeff Hall, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC counted murders of students that occurred at elementary, middle or high schools, on school-sponsored trips, or while students were on their way to or from school.

A total of 116 such deaths occurred from July 1999 through June 2006.

That's a lower number and rate than in previous years, which included the infamous shooting spree at Columbine High School in Colorado in April 1999 when 12 were killed. Overall, from July 1994 to June 1999, there were 172 student slayings at schools.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-17-344237315_x.htm