Introduction
Initially all offenders in the United States were tried in the same court system. However, things changed after it was established that their development was considerably below that of adults. This means children are not able to reason like adults and thus their judgment is considerably below that of adults. It was also established that the adult court system did not assist in correcting children but sentence them into criminal life forever. Most children were engaged in crimes due to circumstances and hence they needed assistance more than they needed to be punished (Davis, 1974). These among other aspects resulted to the development of juvenile criminal system. This paper analyses juvenile justice process, comparing it to the court criminal system.
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Explaining the three phrases of the juvenile justice process: intake, adjudication, and disposition
Juvenile justice process involves three main processes which include the intake process, adjudication process and disposition process. Intake phrase refers to the case screening by the juvenile court system. The intake officers screen child’s family and the child are to establish if they need juvenile court services. During intake the suspected juvenile offender is arrested by the law enforcement officials and taken into the custody. The legal guardians and/or the parents are notified about the detainment. Detention assessment tool is used at the intake function area in the department of juvenile justice (Pachiefprobabtionofficers.org, 2012). This tool is utilized as a guide to establish the decision of intake. The three possible decisions include unconditional release, release with condition, or detain the young offender. The youth may be sent home by the intake officer without further communication, directed to a social agency, file a petition and keep the juvenile in a detention or plea for the juvenile to the juvenile court. The intake process minimizes court resources demands, screens cases not in the jurisdiction of the court out, and allows help to be gained from the society agencies but without the intervention of the court.
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The adjudication process involves the hearing of the case with intention of establishing if the outlines allegations in the petition are actually true. In this process, a case is presented by the judge or the district attorney to prove that the accused child was involved in the delinquent act. Evidence may be presented by the district attorney and witnesses might also be requested to testify. The witnesses can be cross-examined by the child’s attorney and also give evidence in favor of the child. After the two sides of the case have presented their evidences and witnesses, the judge of the course determines if a delinquent act was for sure committed by the child (Pachiefprobabtionofficers.org, 2012). The judge also decided on whether the child requires rehabilitation, supervision or treatment. In case one of these is needed, the court will adjudicate the young offender as delinquent and the disposition hearing date will be set.
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In case the judge establishes an offense was committed by the young offender, there will be hearing of the disposition to make a decision on what should transpire regarding the child’s future. The child may be taken to probation, or may be put into a placement. The juvenile probation officer should collect information before the disposition and may interview the parents, teachers and others so as to be able to prepare a recommendation report to the court (Texasattorneygeneral.gov, 2016). The judge regards the district attorney and juvenile probation recommendations while making the final decision. Family members are always provided with a chance to give their views in the deposition hearing. Parents are allowed to write a letter to the judge as part of the disposition. Disposition provide the court with a chance to understand the child and to know more about their life and surrounding environment before making any decision.
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