Parens patriae and get tough movement policies

Parens patriae or "parent of the Country" refers to the idea in law that the state has the inherent power and authority to protect persons who are legally unable to act on their own behalf. Most often in the United States the persons referred to in this philosophy are children and people with mental or physical impairments (Parens Patriae). For the purposes of this discussion we will focus on philosophies of Parens Patriae as it pertains to Juvenile delinquents.

Throughout the juvenile justice system in America there is a disproportionate number of minorities. Soler and Garry (2009) assert that an effort needs to take place on the part of local and state officials to reduce the number of disproportionate minority contacts. The authors explain that part of the reason why so many minorities are in the juvenile justice system is the attitude of the public toward minorities as it pertains to crime. The authors explain that many people equate the presence of minorities with the presence of crime. As a result non-minority juveniles who commit crimes similar to those committed by minorities get lighter sentences.

This article asserts that in an effort to reduce the number of minority juveniles changes need to be made as it pertains to the manner in which society perceives young minorities. To this end the authors explain that "the depiction of crime, race, and youth in the media can have a significant impact on the level of motivation for and commitment to DMC intervention strategies (Braxton, 1997; McCombs and Shaw, 1993). Reports that perpetuate racial and ethnic stereotypes can raise difficult barriers to DMC efforts (Soler and Garry, 2009) the author goes on to explain that young people regardless of race or ethnicity should be held accountable for their actions. However, the authors assert that accountability does not have to mean incarceration.

The authors propose the development of a steering committee. The committee would be geared towards providing a foundation where youths are given direction and resources that will aid them in achieving meaningful goals in the future. Steering committees also provide trouble juveniles with an alternative to incarceration. In providing this alternative, minorities are kept out of the system and the likelihood of them committing another crime is greatly reduced.

Another issue that has received a great deal of attention as it pertains to the juvenile justice system is Transfer laws. According to an article entitled "Juvenile Transfer Laws: An Effective Deterrent to Delinquency?," transfer laws are designed to expand the types of offenses and offenders eligible for transfer from the juvenile court for trial and sentencing in the adult criminal court (Redding, 2008)." These laws also reduced the age at which juveniles are eligible for transfer, increased the number of offenses that are transferable, and increased prosecutorial discretion. The purpose of the transfer laws was to have greater penalties for certain offenses. Law makers believed that transfer laws will assist in deterring juveniles from committing the most serious crimes.

The article reports that it is unclear whether or not trying juveniles in Criminal Court as opposed to juvenile court deters crime. In fact the author points out the results of six large studies which found that the recidivism rates of those tried in Criminal Court was greater than the rate of those tried in juvenile court. Other studies have shown mixed outcomes. Some research has shown that harsher sentences do not deter juveniles from committing crime, while others have shown that transfer laws have contributed to a decrease in crime amongst juveniles. However the largest and the most prominent research about this type of deterrence effort suggest that harsher penalties actually cause a greater amount of recidivism amongst juveniles. So then, the aim of transfer laws has not been realized because they were ill conceived.

In the first essay the philosophy of the authors is that the state has a responsibility to reduce the number of juveniles that are incarcerated. This reduction is needed because there are a disproportionate number of minority juveniles in the system. The incarceration of juveniles is detrimental because of the cycle of incarceration that tends to occur once young people enter the system. The authors want to stop the cycle of incarceration so that stronger communities can be built and society can improve.