2 Week Three Juvenile Court Process Introduction Last week you learned about the broad discretionary powers of the police and the informal juvenile justice system, including schools, local not-for-profit agencies, and so on. Now you will turn to the formal juvenile justice system in which discretion begins to give way to rules and processes, specifically within the juvenile court process. This Week in Relation to the Course A juvenile enters the more formalized juvenile justice system through the intake process. Experts over the years have recognized this border of the system as something like a semipermeable barrier through which certain juveniles are processed (somewhat like oil through an oil filter) and find that there is no way back through the barrier. They must go forward, further and deeper into the system. Some, more critical of the potential negative impact of the system because of the inertia it develops in processing youth who come into contact with it, see it as a downward spiral, where once a youth gets caught in the outer edge he or she is drawn inward, each moment decreasing the youth’s chances for success. Keep in mind that, no matter how formalized the process becomes, it is still a civil, not criminal, process for youths. As the prosecutorial component is drawn into play, however, the system becomes increasingly adversarial; the more adversarial, normally, the more due process is accorded to the youth. The language gets tougher and, in a growing number of states, it is becoming standard practice to automatically transfer certain kinds of cases to adult court. At this point, even if youths are only 15, 16, or 17, they are treated as adults in adult criminal court. There is much passion on the part of all players in the processing of a juvenile through the system. In part because of this personalized and emotional regard for the youthful offender, mechanisms have been put into place that attempt to objectify decision making at several points in the process. One such mechanism is to determine through measurement what the individual youth’s risk-and-needs level might be. In this way, decisions may be made to more effectively match the youth with whatever dispositional alternatives are realistically available through the system. Discussion of a Key Point, Thread, or Objective · Intake · due process · Inculpatory or exculpatory evidence · Confidentiality · plea-bargaining · with/without prejudice · waivers · transfer hearing · capital punishment · risk/needs · false negatives · false positives Practical Applications and Questions At this point, you have been introduced to many of the juvenile justice system’s strengths and weaknesses. You have seen that the more formal the system becomes, the more difficult it becomes to distinguish between the best interests of the youthful offender and the best interests of the public. How would you feel about abolishing the juvenile court system? With what would you replace i ...