JUVENILE COURT

Juvenile court

Juvenile court

Do you think juvenile court proceedings should be open to the public?

I believe juvenile court proceedings should be open to the public. Courts have long recognized that criminal proceedings involving adults should be open. The U.S. Supreme Court recognized a presumption of openness for criminal trials in Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 5455, 571-573 (1980), with Chief Justice Burger noting: When a shocking crime occurs, a community reaction of outrage and public protest often follows. Thereafter the open processes of justice serve an important prophylactic purpose, providing an outlet for community concern, hostility, and emotion. The crucial prophylactic aspects of the administration of justice cannot function in the dark; no community catharsis can occur if justice is "done in a corner or in any covert manner." Where the trial has been concealed from public view an unexpected out come can cause a reaction that the system at best has failed and at worst has been corrupted. To work effectively, it is important that society's criminal process "satisfy the appearance of justice," which can best be provided by allowing people to obse rve it. (DeLisi, 2005) Most states consider juvenile court records to be confidential, and the public and media are denied access to them. However, many states have made exceptions for records of cases involving violent offenses or acts that would be felonies if committe d by an adult. Among these are Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Washington. In Georgia, the juveni le justice laws automatically require any child 13 or older who is charged with murder to be tried as an adult. In Virginia, any child 14 or older who is charged with murder is to be tried as an adult automatically

Why or why not?

Although there is a strong presumption that criminal proceedings are open to the media and public, I believe this First Amendment right of access is not absolute. This presumption can be overcome by a showing that competing interests favor closed proceedings and records, such as when the media coverage will interfere with the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a fair trial. (DeLisi, 2005)

By contrast, juvenile courts traditionally have been closed to the public. As a policy matter, it was believed that youthful offenders should not be stigmatized forever because of one mistake. Another justification for secrecy was promoting rehabilitation of the youthful offender. For example, the Vermont ...