The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency was created in 1974. This office was established with the focus of fighting juvenile misconduct and to gather statistics across the nation. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act was brought about by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency, which required states to keep the juvenile courts segregated from the adult courts. The website Maryland.gov states this Act required “(1) youthful offenders were to have ‘sight and sound separation” from adult offenders…(2) youth who have committed ‘status offenses’ (curfew, truancy, alcohol possession, etc.) could not be placed in a juvenile or adult detention facility, and (3) youth could not be detained in adult jails…” (Juvenile). The Office
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Polices were established in school districts in which mandatory expulsion was instituted for involvement in gang-related activities and possession of drugs. Tobacco was also included in this policy. Coinciding with this, Congress passed the Gun-Free Schools Act. This Act requires expulsion for a year if a student possesses a weapon. Criminal charges can also be filed against the student (Rights). To curtail the drug problem, on October 27, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. This act instituted mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession, to include marijuana.
Public perception of juvenile criminals changed drastically during the 1980s. This perception changed due to fear from school shooting and other violent events. People believed the punishment handed out by the juvenile justice system was too easy. Because of this, state law makers made transferring a juvenile to the adult court system easer during the …show more content…
Simmons (2005) is another landmark case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to impose the death penalty for crimes committed while under the age of 18. This is a violation of the Eighth Amendment prevention of cruel and unusual punishment. This decision made by the Supreme Court was not unanimous; with the decision being 5-4. PBS’ Frontline Educational Foundation states, the Supreme Court “notes that juveniles lack the ‘well-formed’ identities of adults and are susceptible to immature and irresponsible behavior, and that juveniles are ‘categorically less culpable’ than adults” (Timeline). Justice Anthony Kennedy states that “when a juvenile offender commits a heinous crime, the State can exact forfeiture of some of the most basic liberties, but the State cannot extinguish his life and his potential to attain a mature understanding of his own humanity”
Polices were established in school districts in which mandatory expulsion was instituted for involvement in gang-related activities and possession of drugs. Tobacco was also included in this policy. Coinciding with this, Congress passed the Gun-Free Schools Act. This Act requires expulsion for a year if a student possesses a weapon. Criminal charges can also be filed against the student (Rights). To curtail the drug problem, on October 27, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. This act instituted mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession, to include marijuana.
Public perception of juvenile criminals changed drastically during the 1980s. This perception changed due to fear from school shooting and other violent events. People believed the punishment handed out by the juvenile justice system was too easy. Because of this, state law makers made transferring a juvenile to the adult court system easer during the …show more content…
Simmons (2005) is another landmark case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to impose the death penalty for crimes committed while under the age of 18. This is a violation of the Eighth Amendment prevention of cruel and unusual punishment. This decision made by the Supreme Court was not unanimous; with the decision being 5-4. PBS’ Frontline Educational Foundation states, the Supreme Court “notes that juveniles lack the ‘well-formed’ identities of adults and are susceptible to immature and irresponsible behavior, and that juveniles are ‘categorically less culpable’ than adults” (Timeline). Justice Anthony Kennedy states that “when a juvenile offender commits a heinous crime, the State can exact forfeiture of some of the most basic liberties, but the State cannot extinguish his life and his potential to attain a mature understanding of his own humanity”