Status Offenders

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Status Offenders Abstract The study of juvenile delinquency requires understanding the nature, extent, and cause of youthful law violations and the methods devised for their control. There is also need to study important environmental and social issues associated with delinquent behavior, including substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, education, and peer relations. One of the issues that has arisen in this regards is the sentencing and treatment of status offenders. This is in addition to the approaches that can be employed by the system to ensure that while justice is maintained, the best interests of the child are served by the system. However, this has attracted considerable debate over the appropriate way to handle status offenders.…show more content…
This is collectively known as the juvenile justice system. However, the juvenile justice system has been faced with a myriad of challenges. These range from how the police should deal with minors who violate the law, the legal rights of children, and the kind of correctional programs most effective with delinquent youths. This text investigates the status offender’s aspects of juvenile delinquency along with the efforts being made to treat problem youths and prevent the spread of delinquency behavior through correction. It presents the issue of status offenders in a transitioning juvenile justice system addressing the categories of offenses, and the role and jurisdiction of the juvenile court in the handling of status offenders. Analysis The problems of youth in modern society are a major national concern especially when they are linked to juvenile delinquency or criminal behavior committed by minors. More than 1.1 million youths are arrested annually for crimes ranging in seriousness from loitering to murder. Though most juvenile law violations are minor, some young offenders are extremely dangerous and violent. About 800,000 youths belong to more than 20,000 gangs in the United States. Youths involved in multiple serious criminal acts referred to as lifestyle, repeat, or chronic delinquent offenders,…show more content…
Examples include minor traffic offenses and parking violations, but some jurisdictions have a broad range of other minor offenses classified as infractions. These might include possession of small quantities of marijuana for personal use, minor building code violation, or playing the radio too loudly after 10:00 PM. Most infractions are violations of city or county ordinances. Because infraction cannot result in a jail sentence or even probation, defendants charged with them do not have a right to a jury trial. However, they can be represented by lawyers, but because there is no chance of jail time, the government does not have a constitutional duty to appoint a government-paid attorney for defendants charged with infractions. Often, prosecutors do not appear on behalf of the government in infraction
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