first, the provisions of the U.S. constitution.
Second, specific legal provisions, such as Juvenile Court Law, Federal Juvenile Corrections Law, Juvenile Delinquency Law, Juvenile Corrections Law, Juvenile Court and Family Court Standards, Juvenile Court Model Rules, Juvenile Abuse Prevention and Treatment Law, Juvenile Television Law, Communication Content Discipline Law, and Juvenile Online Protection Law.
II. Elaboration
Juvenile Law is the general name of a series of laws and regulations with juveniles as the object or subject. In the United States, the relevant policies and regulations to protect the rights and interests of teenagers and prevent juvenile delinquency mainly include the American Juvenile Protection Act and the Juvenile Crime Prevention Act.
The juvenile law is applicable to those who cannot be held criminally responsible for their own criminal acts, generally referring to minors under the age of 18. In the United States, juvenile law is mainly under the jurisdiction of States, and most States have enacted relevant laws.
In 1968, Congress passed the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention ANC Control Act, which was revised and renamed the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act in 1972.
this bill clearly defines juvenile delinquency and sets a set of rules that state laws must abide by.
In the United States, juvenile delinquency has special judicial procedures. When a teenager is accused of a crime, the procedure is completely different from that of an adult. Juvenile delinquency is called "illegal behavior" and needs juvenile court to correct the illegal behavior.
Under normal circumstances, juvenile courts will try their best to reform, instead of punishing them with imprisonment. Only in felony cases such as murder, kidnapping, arson and rape will juveniles be treated as adults, which depends on the judge's judgment.
Teenagers also enjoy different rights from adults. For example, teenagers cannot try cases by jury, and in many cases, they have no right to participate in public trials. However, teenagers have the right to be informed of all the charges against them, to express their opinions and to confront the accusers.
Expansion:
The development of juvenile justice system in the United States
The United States is the first country in the world to establish juvenile courts, and the federal government and every jurisdiction have their own juvenile courts. In the United States, in addition to federal legislation, the juvenile justice system is also found in state legislation.
at the beginning of the establishment of the juvenile justice system in the United States, civil, criminal and administrative cases related to juveniles were brought into the jurisdiction of juvenile courts, which reflected the judicial policy of caring for and protecting juveniles. From the 198s to the mid-199s, juvenile violent crimes became the focus of American society. Under this background, the juvenile justice system in the United States became hardened.
This is the choice made by the American judicial system after taking into account the needs of social interests and the interests of teenagers, and this tendency has not changed so far. The evolution of American juvenile justice system can be briefly described as follows.
1. The formation of juvenile justice system in the United States
The United States emphasizes the responsibility of the government to protect minors, and the original intention of establishing juvenile courts is to protect the rights and interests of minors. In 1899, Illinois, USA promulgated the Juvenile Court Act, which stipulated that juvenile courts should be separated from adult courts, clarified the jurisdiction of juvenile courts, emphasized the principle difference between juvenile judicial procedures and adult criminal judicial procedures, and clearly stipulated that the purpose of juvenile justice was correction rather than punishment.
Since then, with the change of social situation, in order to solve the problems in the practice of juvenile justice, the United States has successively enacted some special legislation, which has continued the core provisions of the Juvenile Court Law. The establishment of juvenile courts in the United States takes the maximization of children's interests as the guiding principle, and the management objects of juvenile courts are mainly: juveniles who violate the criminal law.
Teenagers who violate the law on the basis of their status do things that adults can do but minors can't, such as playing truant, running away from home, drinking, etc. Teenagers who are neglected in the process of growing up, that is, teenagers who lack parental care, guardianship or can't take care of themselves and are abandoned.
2. Changes in the juvenile justice system in the United States
Influenced by the rising juvenile crime rate and other factors, in the 197s, various states in the United States established a juvenile justice diversion system, through which juveniles who committed minor crimes were excluded from the judicial process and juveniles who committed serious crimes were handed over to adult criminal courts. Practice has proved that the system not only urges teenagers to bear legal responsibilities, but also reduces the judicial cost, improves the settlement rate and maintains social order.
(1) Diversion of cases into the stage
The juvenile justice system in the United States is independent of the adult justice system and has an independent operating mechanism. The main participants include the police, juvenile courts (courts), probation officers, government lawyers and children's agents, juvenile shelters, juvenile reformatories and some juvenile welfare institutions. Access to juvenile justice procedures can be voluntary or through referral.
Every jurisdiction in the United States has its own deportation system, and the deportation system in each state is basically the same in procedure. Any official or individual (parents, teachers, neighbors and ordinary citizens, etc.) can accuse the juvenile of violating the law and bring a lawsuit to the juvenile court.
(2) Pre-trial triage
According to the relevant laws and regulations of the United States, relevant departments can triage juvenile criminal cases before they enter the trial procedure. There are three results of diversion: unconditional release of teenagers involved; Transfer some teenagers involved to supervision, welfare institutions or adult criminal courts; The case was transferred to the juvenile court. Sending the juvenile involved to the adult criminal court is an act of giving up the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
(3) Redistribution during trial
In the United States, nearly half of the cases submitted to juvenile courts are handled informally by the accepting department according to the special situation of juveniles. In most jurisdictions, juveniles who violate the law will only be dealt with informally if they promise to restore the victims' losses to the original state, go to school, follow the advice of taking drugs or impose a curfew. These teenagers are supervised by probation officers, so this treatment is also called informal probation.
when the informal handling is implemented, the case will be closed; Otherwise, the case will be submitted to the juvenile court for trial. Once the case is formally accepted to the juvenile court, the court may make a decision to dismiss the case after reviewing the evidence and determining that the juvenile did commit a crime and it is more appropriate for the adult criminal court to handle the case.
For some young juveniles who break the law for the first time, the judge usually decides to transfer them to supervision institutions such as reformatory, reformatory and training camp, or release them conditionally (impose fines, etc.), so as to reduce the recidivism rate and weaken the labeling effect.
Some teenagers who have committed serious crimes will be supervised by the regulatory authorities until they reach adulthood, and then handed over to the criminal court for handling. In recent years, American juvenile courts have taken many measures to highlight the correctional function of juvenile justice, such as the small correctional center therapy in Missouri, which has been popularized throughout the United States. Lawmakers, correctional officers and government workers all realize that investing funds from juvenile detention centers into community correctional institutions can reduce recidivism rates and save money.
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