African-American Youth in The Juvenile Justice System

eceive the death penalty. Early debates questioned whether there should be a
separate legal system for punishing juveniles, or if juveniles should be sentenced in the
same manner as adults.
With the changing demographic, social, and economic context of the 19th century
resulting largely from industrialization, "the social construction of childhood...as a period
of dependency and exclusion from the adult world" was institutionalized. This century
saw the opening of the first programs targeting juvenile delinquency. Barry Krisberg and
James F. Austin note that the first ever institution dedicated to juvenile delinquency was
the New York House of Refuge in 1825. Other programs, described by Finley, included:
"houses of refuge", which emphasized moral rehabilitation; "reform schools", which had
widespread reputations for mistreatment of the children living there; and "child saving
organizations", social charity agencies dedicated to reforming poor and delinquent
children. These 'child-saving efforts' were early attempts at differentiating between
delinquents and abandoned youth.
Prior to this ideological shift, the application of parens patrea was restricted to protecting
the interests of children, deciding guardianship and commitment of the mentally ill. In
the 1839 landmark case Ex parte Crouse, the court allowed use of parens patrea to
detain young people for non-criminal acts in the name of rehabilitation. Since these
decisions were carried out "in the best interest of the child," the due process protections
afforded adult criminals were not extended to juveniles.
Early 1900s
The nation's first juvenile court was formed in Illinois in 1899 and provided a legal
distinction between juvenile abandonment and crime. The law that established the
court, the Illinois Juvenile Court Law of 1899, was created largely because of the
advocacy of women such as Jane Addams, Louise DeKoven Bowen, Lucy Flower and
Julia Lathrop, who were members of the influential Chicago Woman's Club. The
Chicago court opened on July 1, 1899 with Judge Tuthill presiding, along with several
members of the Chicago Woman's Club who acted as advisors about the juvenile
offender's backgrounds. Establishing a juvenile court helped reframe cultural and legal
interpretations of "the best interests of the child." "The underlying assumption of the
original juvenile system, and one that continues to prevail, was that juveniles were
generally more amenable to rehabilitation than adult criminals. This new application of
parens patrea and the development of a separate juvenile court formed the foundation
for the modern juvenile justice system.
1960s to 1980s
Debate about morality and effectiveness surrounded juvenile courts until the 1950s. The
1960s through the 1980s saw a rise in attention to and speculation about juvenile
delinquency, as well as concern about the court system as a social issue. This era was
characterized by distinctly harsh punishments for youths. There was also a new focus
on providing minors with due process and legal counsel in court. Criticism in this era
Page 18 of 114