here's a question to ponder

I don't know if this question has been brought up before either through the discussion board or in other blogs so I think i'll give it a shot. What do you think should have to first time offenders in the criminal justice system. Should it depend on the severity of the offense? Should incarceration time ever be a consideration for first time offenders. I persoannly feel it should depend on the severity of the offense. If it is a minor offense such as a curfew violation I think a verbal repremand is sufficent But if it is a more severe offense such as assult and battery or other major criminal offense then yes other options should be on the table for the courts to consider.


Your thoughts????

criminal sentencing table

I am probably the last one to discover this but I literally was just flipping through our textbook and found something that made me go, Whoa!, I didn't know that was in there. if you look at chapter 14 specifically page 376 of our text there is a sentencing table that tshows in months the sentencing guidelines a judge must follow when looking at sentencing. the table is divided into four zone levels A-D and has 43 offense levels. Each of the 258 cells contains an upper and a lower level sentence that that judge can consult for sentencing. I don't know how informative this may be to you guys but I found it interesting.

Thoughts on Life in Prison case

I am in the process of checking out the article that was left for us about life in prison for minors. As I looked through the article an interesting thought crossed my mind. If the teenagers in question are of sound mind and capable ability to committ such heinous acts such as one that is mentioned in the article shouldn't they be eligable to receive the utmost maximum sentence for their crimes. Many people will argue that juveniles are just young and foolish and will hopefuly learn from their mistakes, the question I pose is...... How many "mistakes" should we allow juveniles to make before they are held responsible for their actions. Though many people may consider it animalistic to incarcerate them at a young age I have to wonder if they have already made that leap based on their judgment or lack their of in cases such as this.

Bullying then vs. Bullying now

A question was posed in my blog about the differences between what causes bullying now as to what I bleive caused bullying back then. I would now like to address those issues.

I think bullying now has increased due to the changes we have seen with the development of life and technology that has become avaliable to the young children of today as compared to the youngsters of yesteryear.


Youngsters today have more of a freeer opportunity a freer world than our parents had back then. Youngsters today have more peer pressure that is seen in their everyday lives then anything our parents faced back when they were young.

Todays' advancement in clothing styles, lifestyles and technology have made it even tougher to be a teenager today than a teenager of yesteryear.

Punishment for Juvenile Bullies

Punishment for juvenile bullies in teh United States should come in many forms. Juvenile bullies should not be able to take control of an individuals' life thorugh fear, anger and what could lead to violence. If a bully is caught making trouble on school grounds the punishment should range from some sort of in school suspension to possible expulsion for reperat or severe offenses. Controlling of bullies within our society today is a must which shoudl be contained because without rules, laws and regulations there would be nothing but chaos and fear in our schools and other aspects of our lives.

why in my mind juvneile bullies exist

In the United States throughout history and even more rampant today one of the starting points for juvenile deliquency in my opinion is the crime of bullying that occurs in schools and other areas by individual juveniles or a group of juveniles who like to engage in gang activity. Juvenile bullies seem to think they have many answers for why they bully kids who are smaller than they are or even feel they have the guts to take on bigger kids and even in crazy situations even adults.

Juvenile bullies look to recruit other kids to join their gangs, and groups for the "family atmosphere" that many juvenile gang members feel exist within their groups. Juvenile deliquents in the U.S. because of the problems they not only have with other people in the community but sadly sometimes within their own families.

Juvenile bullies in the United States are growing at great numbers at an alarming rate everyday. Situations must be made today to help protect our kids from being the criminals of tomorrow.

Adolescent vs life deliquent pattern

Many people have always come to some sort of conclusion that when a juvneile committs a crime as an adolescent then they are doomed for a life of crime as an adult. The interesting thing I have discovered which is absolutely foregin to me at least is that there are two types of dependency for a life of crime. The two types I am refering to are adolescent limited deliquency and life course persistent delinquency. Adolescnent liminted deliquency deals with juveniles who are brought into crime as a juvenile on the basis of a need for acceptence by a group whether it be their peers their familiies or anyone close to them in life. Adolescent limited deliquents usually come to a sense of thought that a life of crime isn't what they need for acceptance which helps them brake from the chain later on in life.

Life deliqunets can be desribed as individuals who always feel that their life needs to be involved in some sort of cirminal activity and without it their life has no purpose or meaning. Life deliquents have had their lives taken from them so to speak at an early age thorugh a number of factors that have occured in the home; I.E. Parents always fighting, difficulty in school facing a need for acceptance. Life deliquents feel the only way they can achieve "peace" if to involve themselves in crime which will lead to praise from their peers but won't lead them to hapiness but a continued life of crime and time in a prison.

Broken Homes

One of the most noted beliefs that juveniles committ crimes is because that most juvenile who committ crimes have some sort of parental problem in the home. This broken home could be due to both parents working and not being able to be a a part of their childs' life. Parents possibly going through tough times which have led to a separation and possible divorce, or other problems that may exist in the home.

While many people sadly tend to turn the other way when a child uses the reason for their actions that their parents don't love them or are never there for them, it is a real problem that exists in some juveniles and their families.

Broken homes no matter what the circumstances needs to be looked into as quickly as possible to help those that are in trouble find some help and those that are on the cusp of juvenile crimes take preventitive measure to keep them off the road to a life of crime.

Studys of deliquency

One of the more pressing questions that people tend to have about juveniles who committ crimes is; what is their motive for going out a causing chaos to individuals they more than likely don't know and just what kind of "kick" do they get out of causing people pain and suffering sometimes just for attention, sometimes just for a quick buck. One of the more interesting studies was done by Wolfgang Figlio and Sellin in 1945. out of the 9945 boys that were studied thirty-five percent of just over 1/3 of the boys survyed had at least one contact with police as juveniles. Though this number may seem shockingly high it should be noted that only 6 percent of the boys came from the cohort study.

The studies suggested that policies that could keep smaller groups from engaging in deliquency would have a better impact on juvenile deliquency.


A second study of boys was done to inclde boys and girls who were born in 1958 and lived in Philadelphia during the time of the Vietnam War. The studies discovered that due to the backgroud in which the second study was taken that crime was on the rise and statistics showed that successfully.

how a case gets to trial

As with any other crime there is a process in which juveniles go throguh when a cime is committed by juveniles. Arrest is not the only way a juenile comes in contact with the ciminal justice system. Juveniles can be referred into the system through referrals by parents, schools and other people who may feel taht a juvenile is in danger of hurting himself or others through dangerous acts. Based on many factors, including any past criminal history, whether the juvneile is a danger to himiself or others is the decison made to them to trial. Half of the cases head to trial that are brought before the juvenile justice system. When a juvenile admits guit before a judge he has many options avaliable to him. some of these options include but are not limited to: Restitution, Curfew, School attendance and rehabilitation.

If the presiding judge decides there is sufficent evidence then the case is brought to trial to determine a juveniles' guilt or innocence.

The court case that changed juvenile justice

With the growth and development of the Juvenile justice system many people began to wonder just what rights juveniles had when it came to the criminal court system. Did juvenile have a right to a trial by jury just like their adult counterparts had? if so did they have the same right to counsel as adults to help in try to prove their innocence? on the morning of June 8th 1964 events occured which began the process of changing the juvenile justice system forever.

On the morning of June 8, 1964 Arizona teenager fifteen year old Gerald Gault was taken into cusudy without notification of his parents after a neighbor complained of receiving a lewd phone call. Without prior notificaton of his charges the teen was subsiquently tried and convicted in juvenile court and sentenced to time in a state industrial school.

Gault parents immediately filed a series of appeals which ended up in the case going before the supreme court.

On May 15, 1967 by a vote of 8-1 the Supreme Court of the United States found that the juveniles detention was a violation of his 14th amendment rights due to lack of formal counsel and lack of notice of charges.

This landmark case began the wheels of the Juvenile Justice system to ensure that even juveniles had a fair chance of defending themselves before charges in court.

Juvenile Justice original layout

The Juvneile Justice system that has comeo to be known in America today actually had a different approach than what they are used for today. In actuality the first Juvenile courts in the United States were not created as a place where justice would be served but more as a place where juvneile counseling could be administered. With its origins as a counseling service rather than a place for punishment the juvenile justice system has receieved tremendous support from the United States.

from the beginning

I guess the best place to start would be at the beginning. Juvenile deliquency has been a "popular" crime in the United States that dates back to the end of the nineteenth cnetury. The first known juvenile court was estabilshed in Illionis in 1899. The creation of the program was based on a group of people known as Child Savers who were looking to keep chilren off the streets, out of trouble and able to make a difference in society.