The actual court proceedings in a juvenile court consist of the arrest procedure, search and seizure, and custodial interrogation (Calderon 2006). The concept has been that the delinquent is a child rather than a criminal. Hence, rehabilitation rather than punishment is the court and the system's goal. But the major aspects of the juvenile justice system continue to hound its supporters. One is the cause of serious juvenile crime. Another

Reforming the Juvenile Justice System: In Search of Justice and Accountability While the overall crime rate has steadily decreased over the last decade throughout the country, there is one segment of crime that has been increasing: criminal offences committed by juveniles (National Criminal Justice Reference Service: 2002). In the last 15 years, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the incidence of criminal offences committed by juveniles (under the age of

juvenile offenders' ability to understand their legal rights and one issue related to their ability to participate effectively in their own defense. Ability to understand legal rights: Competency Ability to participate effectively in their own defense: Treating juveniles differently According to U.S. criminal law, part of the right to counsel includes the notion that a defendant must be able to participate in his or her defense (Sandborn 2009: 137). However, schizophrenics, persons

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program. I chose this program because it is part of a nonprofit organization's attempt to prevent abused and neglected children from getting lost in the welfare system. For this reason, the program chooses court-appointed volunteers to watch over these children. This is a fantastic program because it teaches children about role models and the role an adult can have in a child's life. The

United States judicial system has honored the policy that children and adults do not have the same psychological and emotional capacities and should therefore be treated differently when tried for a crime. With the exception of extremely malicious acts performed by juveniles, the court system has separated juveniles from adults in trials. Recently, mechanisms allowing juveniles to be tried as adults have become more widely used. Judicial waiver involves a

adults have an episode or two from their youth of which they are not extremely proud. Perhaps it involved sneaking a beer (or several beers) at a social function, or lying about one's plans for the evening to get permission to attend a questionable event. Most kids have learned the hard way on at least a few experiences -- speeding, missing curfew, or cheating on a test. Younger children