Students And The Juvenile Court

(The content below was transcribed from an interview done with Acacia Law. We think you'll find it much easier
and more enjoyable to read this way.)

Interviewer: What would the prosecutors do in juvenile court? Will they tend to want to charge them in their court or they want to kick them out to the adult court to get rid of them?

Acacia Law: That’s kind of a problem you run into is that it depends on the particular prosecutors or their supervisors, it depends on the nature of the crime. I think we touched on this a little on major crimes such as aggravated assaults or robberies or even certain theft, you know, breaking and entering, burglary cases. Those can find their ways into the adult court system even if the juvenile may be 15 years of age or so because of the seriousness of the offense. So, juvenile . . .

Interviewer: So if you were thrown to adult court are you charge as an adult or can you still be charged as a juvenile, but in adult court?

Acacia Law: You are charged as an adult, believe it or not. In fact, the main difference between juvenile court and adult court is that in juvenile court they are not charging you with a crime. Juvenile court, what they do is make a finding of delinquency. Okay? You’ve heard the term juvenile delinquent. Well, the court has to make a finding of delinquency, which in it of itself is not a crime, but what it is it is a violation of state law.

What you find happening is a number of different issues come in to play which make juvenile cases more complex. One is that parents, the home that the child lives in, the supervision of the child, when I say child I mean anyone under the age of 18 because that’s essentially how they’re viewed until they reach the age of 18, so, if it’s children, parents are under the double of not only having a child who’s been charged, whether it be in juvenile court or adult court, but even their home arrangements. It’s a very invasive process.

They’ll have probation officers from the juvenile facilities, for example, by court order which actually go to the parents’ home where the child lives to inspect the home to see if it is a home that they deem is safe and secure for the child because everything is done under the assumption that what is being considered here is what is in the best interest of the child.

What most people don’t realize is that what’s happening is that they as parents are sort of being put on the defensive, they’re not charged per se, but they almost might as well because their parenting skills, their home which they have for their children is being assessed and examined by a court, a juvenile court.

Interviewer: Oh. It’s as if the reason why this juvenile had this bad behavior stems from the fact that you were a bad parent is kind of what they’re insinuating. So, were going to make sure that it’s not because you’re a bad parent.

Acacia Law: That’s exactly right. The first thing they examine is what is in the best interest of the child. They’re not interested in what, how it impacts on the family. They’re interested in what is best for the child. What happens is a lot of times is that parents are under scrutiny oftentimes, obviously, for acts that they never committed and we all know that kids do things that parents clearly can’t control.

So, they have the double burden of not only having to have the stress of having a child being dealt with in superior court, but they have to basically maintain being under the pressure of being scrutinized themselves for their own behavior and their own upkeep and maintenance of their families and homes. It’s all domestic related.

Interviewer: You said that parents or the juvenile’s family come under scrutiny, but, what can happen?

Acacia Law: Their children can be taken away from them, sometimes temporarily. If child protective services get involved, sometimes permanently. It always creates a high risk situation. One of the reasons that people contact me, obviously, is because they either know somebody who’s been through this before or they’re concerned about what ordeal they might be in for and a lot of times I can help them because frequently what happens is it’s similar to what we were talking about a few interviews ago where you have a situation where if the individuals went to an attorney first and the attorney could find out what he real problem was with either the probation officer, the parole officer, the court, or anybody who, including child protective services (CPS). Who’s interested in the family that we can respond to it without the individuals themselves giving what would be deemed incriminating testimony against themselves. It’s that same old trick again. They’re not your friends. Telling them things that are not necessary are going to generally get you running into possible problems.

Interviewer: Okay.

Acacia Law: So they have the additional, the parents have the possible consequence of having their children removed from the home, is one thing, if they have other children in the home, they may have them removed, or they may have to modify how they take care of them. They may have to change how they do things in the home. They may have to redo the surroundings in the home They may have to eliminate certain dangers or what are considered hazards. It can be an incredible burden on a family especially because oftentimes people have more than one child.