Juvenile Justice System

Juvenile Justice System

Introduction

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the rights of juveniles at the time of arrest. The paper discusses the comparison of three protections which have been afforded to juveniles in comparison with the adult offenders. The paper also discusses different issues including the Miranda warnings, reasonable suspicion, lineups, the IV amendment search and seizure clause, interrogation and confession.

Discussion

There are different rights of juvenile at the arrest time as compared to the adults. The juveniles are blessed with the additional protection as compared to the adults. The first right which is provided to a juvenile by the juvenile justice system is that the law enforcement officials can arrest them. Another right is given to the juvenile offenders in the form of “referrals” which is given to juveniles by schools, probation officers and parents. The decision about imposing a charge on the juvenile is made after the arrest of juvenile which is not in the case of adult offender. It is on the discretion of the case officer. He has the right of imposing the charge on the juvenile on the basis of information retrieved from the crime victims, parents of juvenile, juvenile himself and the other record of the offender (William 1997). The juveniles enjoy the different rights of being under aged which are not provided to the adult offenders. One important right which has been provided to the juvenile offenders is that they are free from any public trial and jury. The trial portion of the juvenile offender is only limited to the hearing of evidence by judges for assuring that whether the offender has committed the trial or not.

3 Protections to Juvenile Offenders

Given below are the three protections provided to the juvenile offenders which are not available for the adult offenders.

Representation by a Lawyer: The juvenile offender has been given the protection that he can enjoy the representation of the lawyer. This representation is limited to the extent which is supported by law. Thus, this protection is only provided to the juvenile offenders not to the adult offenders.

Protection of Witnesses: This is the second protection given to the juvenile offenders in comparison with the adult offenders. As per this protection it is legally allowed for the juvenile offenders that his witness can appear on behalf of the juvenile offender. Only juvenile offenders are allowed for this protection and the adult offenders are not allowed to have this protection.

Self-Incrimination: The third and very important protection given to the juvenile offenders. As per this protection juvenile offenders are given the right that they can answer the questions and conduct different statements for the purpose of showing the state of guilt (William 1996).

Thus, these are the three main protections available to juvenile offenders. These three protections are only provided to juvenile offenders and the adult offenders do not enjoy these protections. These protections are available to the juvenile offenders because they are under aged.

Miranda Warning

Miranda warnings are the basic warnings which have ...