, 1914, p. 500).
Meanwhile when the state asserts control over the child due to his non-criminal behavior that governmental intervention supports parens patriae, Siegel maintains. (Parens patriae in Latin means "substitute parent"; its been the court's prerogative to intervene in cases where through no fault of his own a child has been neglected or is dependent, Alarid, et al., explains on page 326). States' intervention supports parens patriae simply because state courts believe -- and they assume without really knowing for certain -- that status offender is in his best interests (Siegel, 17). Approximately 150,000 under age youths (technically children) are sent to juvenile court as "status offenders" every year, Siegel explains (17). This policy takes due process and throws it out the window, just because the individual is under age.
The U.S. Congress passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act in 1974, which provides funds to make it possible for states to improve their juvenile justice programs. In fact in 1974 Congress was so concerned about mistreatment of children (e.g., status offender abuse) that in subsequent reauthorizations of the Act, states that...
That said, it is true that some courts still treat youthful "offenders" as though they had no Constitutional rights. In the High Court's decision in Gault (1967) it asserted that "…neither the Fourteenth Amendment nor the Bill of Rights is for adults alone" (Alarid, 326). In Gault he High Court ruled that a juvenile has "four basic due process rights in adjudication proceedings," Alarid points out. Those four are: a) reasonable notice of the charges; b) counsel (appointed by the state if the juvenile is indigent); c) the ability to "confront and cross-examine witnesses"; and d) the privilege against self-incrimination (Alarid, 326).
Works Cited
Alarid, Leanne Fiftal, and Del Carmen, Rolando V. (2010). Community-Based Corrections.
Florence, KY: Cengage Learning.
McLaughlin, Andrew Cunningham, and Hart, Albert Bushnell. (1914). Cyclopedia of American
Government, Volume 1. Emeryville, CA: D. Appleton and Company.
Siegel, Larry L., and Welsh,…
