The Evolution Of Juvenile Justice System

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The establishment of any law is never perfect in its initial stages, and the establishment of the juvenile justice system is no exception. Even our modern criminal laws are constantly being adjusted and amended to comply with current views and mores. The evolution of juvenile justice mirrors that of its adult counterpart, in the sense that the application of constitutional rights has been slow battle. The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified the rights of juveniles—using the U.S. constitution as the basis of their interpretation—in cases like Kent v. United States, In re Gault, In re Winship, McKiever v. Pennsylvania, Breed v. Jones, and Schall v. Martin. I believe the ruling against the lower courts in Kent v. United States what the right decision.…show more content…
What I mean by this is that the government, not a private party, files the litigation. By the government taking action, the case is classified a criminal law case and not a civil law case. Then why were civil law standards applied to the criminal law proceeding of In re Winship? Due process requires that the procedures by which laws are applied must be evenhanded, so that individuals are not subjected to the illogical exercise of government power. Granted, the procedures that are needed to satisfy due process will vary depending on the circumstances, and subject matter involved; Winship was clearly being evaluated by two different and unequal evidential law standards, violating his due process rights. I agree with the Supreme Court’s decision to change the standard of evidence to what it should have been in the first place—“proof beyond a reasonable doubt.” By this reasoning is why I also agree with the Breed v. Jones finding. Jones was being held to two different standards: juvenile and criminal court standards. If the juvenile court is the juveniles’ equivalent to that of the criminal court, then the rulings should be viewed as having equal merit (not to be confused with equal rulings/sentences). An individual cannot be tried under the same criminal code for the same crime, and juveniles are no…show more content…
I would have assumed that all due process rights would have been enacted from Kent v. United States—the first case to establish due process rights to juveniles. These decisions have been enforced for over 25 years, giving the courts and lawyers more than enough time to challenge the constitutionality of the findings. If these decisions had been more recent, perhaps within the past five years, then I most likely would have disagreed with more of
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