Lori G. Levin Criminal Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Report on Juveniles in the Adult Criminal Justice System

Friday, January 27, 2012 by Lori G. Levin

    Recently, the United States Department of Justice National Institute
of Corrections published a report, "You're An Adult Now. Youth in Adult
Criminal Justice Systems," which can be found at
http://static.nicic.gov/Library/025555.pdf. When I was Executive
Director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, I sat
on the board of ReDeploy Illinois, the state's policy team to help keep
juvenile offenders in the community rather than the juvenile (and adult)
correctional system.

   The NIC report is significant in its
findings. It states that nearly one-quarter of a million youth under age
18 are in the adult criminal justice system each year. Youth
transferred into the adult corrections system subsequently are
re-arrested at a higher rate than those who remain in the juvenile
justice system and that transferring youth to adult corrections may run
counter to correctional and rehabilitative goals.


Additionally, with respect to Cook County, the NIC study stated figures
claiming that of the 3,300 youth aged 16-17 who were in the jurisdiction
of the adult court over a four-year period, 887 of the youth received
probation for the offenses of which they were convicted. Those youth were presumably sentenced to adult probation, where services were, again, presumably less tailored to their needs.


The report further suggested that fiscal incentives to improve
community-based supervisions, such as those in Illinois, have improved
public safety and reduced costs.

      When the first
Juvenile Court was started in Chicago, its purpose was to rehabilitate
youth and invest in future productive citizens. The NIC report, although
encouragingly touting the successes of ReDeploy Illinois, shows that we
still need to invest in our future. If youth are receiving probation as
adults, special services should be provided to help keep them from
becoming recidivists.

Additionally, when representing a young
person, counsel should be aware of trends as well as alternatives as a
zealous advocate for the client.

Lori G. Levin is an experienced
Illinois litigator whose practice focuses mainly in the criminal
justice, juvenile justice and mental health arenas.

Lori G. Levin

Attorney at Law

180 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 3700

Chicago, IL 60601

312-972-3756

levin@lorilevinlaw.com

www.lorilevinlaw.com

Posted at 13:09 PM

Topic: Criminal Law