You have just been appointed by the governor as a chairperson of a newly formed group charged with overhauling the state’s juvenile justice system.   One primary concern is the treatment of status offenders–kids who have been picked up and charged with being runaways, sexually active, truant from school, or unmanageable at home.   Under existing status offense statutes, these youth can be sent to juvenile court and stand trial for their misbehaviors.   If the allegations against them are proven valid, they may be removed from the home and placed in foster care or even in a state or private custodial institution.
Recently, a great deal of media attention has been given to the plight of runaway children who live on the streets, take drugs, and engage in prostitution.   At an open hearing, advocates of the current system argue that many families cannot provide the care and control needed to keep kids out of trouble and that the state must maintain control of at-risk youth.
They contend that any status offenders have histories of drug and delinquency problems and are little different from kids arrested on criminal charges; control by the juvenile court is necessary if the youths are ever to get needed treatment.
Another vocal group argues that it is a mistake for a system that deals with criminal youth also to handle troubled adolescents, whose problems usually are the result of child-abuse and neglect.   They believe that the current statute should be amended to give the state’s department of social welfare (DSW) jurisdiction over all non-criminal youths who are in need of assistance.   These opponents of the current law point out that, even though status offenders and delinquents are held in separate facilities, those who run away or are unmanageable can be transferred to more secure correctional facilities that house criminal youths.   Furthermore, the current court-based process, where troubled youths are involved with lawyers, trials, and court proceedings, helps convince them that they are “bad kids” and social outcasts.

Questions:

Define a status offender.  

Define a juvenile delinquent.

Do you believe that status offenders should be treated differently than juvenile delinquents?  Are status offenders a ” different type” of criminal than other juvenile offenders? (i.e. violent offenders, drug)  Explain your reasoning.

Is it fair to institutionalize a minor simply for being truant or running away from home?

Are behavioral problems better handled by a social service or mental health agency than a juvenile court?

How does the juvenile justice system rationalize its involvement with status offenders?

Explain the “debate” over the future of the status offense concept.   What are the issues with regard to the status offense concept? What are the two sides?

Why is this debate of importance to the field of juvenile justice? 

What are its implications?

What recommendations would you make to the governor?                    Scenario A Questions for page 56

1. Would you treat Shatiek as a juvenile and see if a prolonged stay in a youth facility could help this troubled young man, or would you transfer (waive) him to the adult justice system?
2. Does a 16 year old like Shatiek deserve a second chance?
3. Is Shatiek’s behavior common among adolescent boys or unusual and disturbing?
4. Respond in the same manner for the following scenario.The York Haven, Pennsylvania, Kiddie Sex Ring
   Source: Adapted from the Associated Press, “17 Children Involved in Neighborhood Sex Ring.” July 5, 1999.A group of seventeen students at Northeastern Middle School and York Haven Elementary School in York Haven, Pennsylvania, was discovered to have originated and perpetuated an intense sex ring.   They ranged in age from 7 to 16, and their activities included virtually every sexual perversion and deviant sex act known.   Newberry Township Police Chief Bill Myers said, “These kids knew that what they were doing wasn’t right, but they didn’t know it was as bad as it was.   There was a naivete about the legal and moral consequences.”   Subsequently, six children were charged in juvenile court on various counts of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and indecent assault.   Several incidents of incest were found but not pursued criminally.   The sexual activity had gone on for two and one-half years with just a few children involved at first.   Then the group grew gradually to seventeen students of various ages.   The assaults and sex acts occurred in the homes of the children when parents were away or in wooded areas in abandoned shacks.   More children would have been charged but they were younger than the 10 -year old minimum for criminal charges, according to investigating detectives.   Police learned about the sex ring after a sleepover sixteenth birthday party for one girl that was attended by another 16-year old girl, two 11-year old boys, and a 13 year old boy.   Supposedly, what happened was that they were playing “spin the bottle,” and things got well beyond that.   The story was that one bottle pointed toward on of the males and he had to have intercourse with one of the girls. This turned out to be the tip of the iceberg.   Following the birthday party, it was discovered that one of the 11 year old boys had been molesting a 7-year old neighbor and told it to the victim’s mother.   When the woman went to police, the daughter admitted that she had been having sex with an 11- year old boy.Scenario B Questions
5. What should be the punishment for these children who ran the sex ring?
6. Is there sufficient evidence to justify crimes among the participants?
7. What do think should be done?
8. Three black teenage males are walking down a deserted downtown Detroit street in a high-crime neighborhood.   It is 12:30 A.M. A police cruiser with two black female officer’s pulls alongside the boys and the officers ask the boys for identification.   The boys are not carrying any identification, although they politely give their names, ages, and addresses to the officer.   They are all 13 years old, and they claim to have been at a movie about five blocks from where they are now.   On the basis of where they say they live, the officers determine that the boys are walking in the general direction of their neighborhood.   The officers want to know if the boys are carrying any weapons.   The boys reply “No, we don’t have any weapons.”   One officer asks if they would mind if she searches them.   One boy backs, up, pushes up his hands, and says, “I don’t want no cop’s hands on me.”   After that remark, the officers exit their cruiser and force the boys against a nearby brick wall, were they are patted down and frisked.   One boy is carrying a small pocket knife, while another boy is carrying a bottle opener.   The officers decide to take the boys into custody.   They handcuff each boy and place them in the rear seat of the cruiser. The boys are taken to the police station, and the parent of the boys are called.   The parents of the three boys show up at the police station 15 minutes later.   They are advised that two of the boys are being charged with carrying “concealed weapons” and will probably have to appear in juvenile court later.   The other boy is released into the custody of his parent with a verbal reprimand from the officers that boys that age shouldn’t be walking in dangerous neighborhoods late at night.   Subsequently, a juvenile court prosecutor drops the concealed weapons charges and nothing more is done in the incident.Scenario 2
   Two 12-year old girls are driving in a stolen car in Miami, Florida, at 10:00P,M. on a Saturday night.   A sheriff’s deputy on patrol notices the youthfulness of the car’s driver as they pas his car, which is parked on a side street.   The deputy follows the girls and radios the license plate of the vehicle they are driving.   The dispatcher reports that the car belongs to a woman in an exclusive Miami neighborhood on the other side of town.   The deputy turns on his cruiser lights and shines a spotlight on the back of the girls’ vehicle, intending for the girls to stop.   Instead, the girls attempt to elude the deputy and drive off at a high rate of speed.   Eventually, the girls crash the car into another automobile as they attempt to pass through a busy intersection.   The deputy determines that the girls are injured and calls for backup and emergency medical personnel, who show up a short time later.   The girls are taken to a nearby medical center where they are placed under watch and treated for their injuries.   In the meantime, the deputy and other officers attempt to contact the automobile’s owner.   The woman doesn’t answer her telephone.   Two officers drive out to her home and knock on the door.   Lights are on inside the house, and a radio is playing loudly.   The officers walk around to the back of the house and see what appears to be a bloody handprint on the back screen door.   They pull out their pistols and inter the rear of the home, finding an elderly woman lying on the floor in a pool of blood.   A knife is sticking out of her back and the house appears to have been ransacked.   It seems that the woman was a bible studies teacher thought to have a lot of money secreted away in her home.   The two girls admit under subsequent questioning that they went to her home earlier that day on the pretense of enrolling in her bible studies class.   When she admitted them to her home, they attacked her with a knife and a lead pipe.   She fled to the kitchen where they killed her.   They stole her car keys and found $55 in her purse.   They drove her car to the apartment of a friend where they obtained some beer and drugs with some of their money.   Then they got high and drove around town until they were spotted by the sheriff’s deputy.   They are charged with murder.   Subsequently, a juvenile court judge adjudicates both girls delinquent on the murder charges, and they are disposed to the Florida Industrial School until they reach adulthood.Scenario 3
   One afternoon in a busy department store, a security officer spotted two youths stealing several pairs of tennis shoes by placing them in a store shopping bag.   As they exited the store with the stolen merchandise, the security officer moved in to detain them.   With the assistance of two other officers, the boys were subdued and turned over to police officers.   Upon questioning at the police station, the boys admitted to stealing the shoes.   They said that he theft was a part of a gang initiation.   A check of juvenile records revealed that the boys, 14-year olds, had no prior arrests or incidents involving delinquent conduct.   A juvenile court prosecutor plea bargained the case, where the boys admitted their guilt to the juvenile court judge in exchange for a disposition of probation for one year.   The boys were further ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.Post your responses and respond to two of your classmates.Questions

Can each of these scenarios result in an adjudication of delinquency by a juvenile court judge?

1. Are each of these scenarios of equivalent seriousness?
2. Do you think that each of these scenarios should be handled by the juvenile court?   Give your reasons.

If you believe that some shouldn’t be handled by the juvenile court, which ones and give your reasons.

What would you do for each scenario?   What would you hope the end result would be for the child. 

Scenario A Questions for page 56

Would you treat Shatiek as a juvenile and see if a prolonged stay in a youth facility could help this troubled young man, or would you transfer (waive) him to the adult justice system?

Does a 16 year old like Shatiek deserve a second chance?

Is Shatiek’s behavior common among adolescent boys or unusual and disturbing?

Respond in the same manner for the following scenario.

Scenario A Questions for page 56

Would you treat Shatiek as a juvenile and see if a prolonged stay in a youth facility could help this troubled young man, or would you transfer (waive) him to the adult justice system?

Does a 16 year old like Shatiek deserve a second chance?

Is Shatiek’s behavior common among adolescent boys or unusual and disturbing?

Respond in the same manner for the following scenario.

The York Haven, Pennsylvania, Kiddie Sex Ring

Source: Adapted from the Associated Press, “17 Children Involved in Neighborhood Sex Ring.” July 5, 1999.

A group of seventeen students at Northeastern Middle School and York Haven Elementary School in York Haven, Pennsylvania, was discovered to have originated and perpetuated an intense sex ring. They ranged in age from 7 to 16, and their activities included virtually every sexual perversion and deviant sex act known. Newberry Township Police Chief Bill Myers said, “These kids knew that what they were doing wasn’t right, but they didn’t know it was as bad as it was. There was a naivete about the legal and moral consequences.” Subsequently, six children were charged in juvenile court on various counts of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and indecent assault. Several incidents of incest were found but not pursued criminally. The sexual activity had gone on for two and one-half years with just a few children involved at first. Then the group grew gradually to seventeen students of various ages. The assaults and sex acts occurred in the homes of the children when parents were away or in wooded areas in abandoned shacks. More children would have been charged but they were younger than the 10 -year old minimum for criminal charges, according to investigating detectives. Police learned about the sex ring after a sleepover sixteenth birthday party for one girl that was attended by another 16-year old girl, two 11-year old boys, and a 13 year old boy. Supposedly, what happened was that they were playing “spin the bottle,” and things got well beyond that. The story was that one bottle pointed toward on of the males and he had to have intercourse with one of the girls. This turned out to be the tip of the iceberg. Following the birthday party, it was discovered that one of the 11 year old boys had been molesting a 7-year old neighbor and told it to the victim’s mother. When the woman went to police, the daughter admitted that she had been having sex with an 11- year old boy.

Scenario B Questions

What should be the punishment for these children who ran the sex ring?

Is there sufficient evidence to justify crimes among the participants?

What do think should be done?