Easy Guide to the Legal System
by
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Easy Guide 01
FAMILY LAW
Juvenile Court - This court is designed for rehabilitation of teenagers who are younger than eighteen years old. These young people who come under the juvenile court’s jurisdiction for a law violation are processed in a different way than adult offenders accused of a crime. The juvenile will remain under the juvenile court’s supervision for review, helpful advice, or release until twenty-five years old. The juvenile is assigned to a counselor. Each juvenile offender will have to report to his assigned counselor on set dates until released.
If a police officer decides to confine the minor, he must place him in a juvenile facility, not an adult jail. The officer must immediately notify the minor’s parent(s) that their child is being detained. The minor usually is allowed to make two or more completed phone calls. At the juvenile facility, the probation officer will interview the minor (on intake), investigate the alleged offense, and determine what is in the child’s best interest. Options typically include counseling, releasing the minor and closing the case, referring the minor to a nonjudicial agency or community program, placing the minor informally in a facility to keep track of his behavior, referring the case to a prosecutor for filing a charge, releasing the minor to his parents, or retaining him in custody.
If the minor requests an attorney, the juvenile court judge must appoint one, usually a public defender or a court-approved counsel experienced in handling juvenile cases. The attorney represents the minor, not the minor’s parents, even if the parents hire and pay for the attorney.
If a detention hearing is to be held, it must occur within forty-eight hours of the minor being taken into custody. At the hearing, the attorney for the minor receives the police report, probation officer’s report, and any other documents that are available to the probation officer. The prosecutor usually submits the matter to the juvenile court on the basis of the police report and the oral or written recommendations of the probation officer. The attorney for the minor can cross-examine the probation officer, police officer, and anyone else who prepared reports regarding the minor or the incident. The minor has the right to confront witnesses and cross-examine them, and the right to assert the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
If the juvenile court judge decides that the minor violated the law, he can make the minor a ward of the court, and the minor will be detained. An arraignment hearing is held at the detention hearing. The minor, through his attorney, enters a plea and negotiations of the charges can occur—the equivalent of plea bargaining for adults.
e.g.: A juvenile court judge ruled that a sixteen-year-old accomplice in the shooting death of a jewelry store owner will not stand trial as an adult. The judge said the girl lacked criminal sophistication and was under the influence of an older man who took advantage of her naivete. She was a good candidate for rehabilitation at the juvenile justice system. If convicted, the girl will remain in custody with the state youth authority for eight and a
half years.
If the prosecution wants the minor treated as an adult, a fitness hearing will be held to determine if the minor is or is not fit for care, treatment, and training programs of juvenile court. If the minor remains in the juvenile justice system, a jurisdictional hearing is held, the equivalent of a trial in adult criminal court. The hearing is conducted in the same manner as a court trial in adult court, with opening statements, questioning of witnesses, motions, and closing arguments.
If the judge finds that the allegations in the petition are true, he declares that the minor comes within the provisions of the juvenile statutes. Then a dispositional hearing is held, the equivalent of the sentencing hearing in adult court. In sentencing a minor, the juvenile court puts the emphasis on treating and rehabilitating the minor, in addition to protecting the public.
If a minor is suspected of committing a crime, a police officer can temporarily detain him. Before the officer can question him, he must advise him of his Mirand
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About the Book
There is right and wrong under law. This book explains the difference. It defines crimes, punishment, good and bad behavior. It tells you how to minimize punishment or extend it. It looks at the court system from a court reporter’s view – the best seat in the courtroom, and armed with legal knowledge – always there, and always neutral. Some persons have been seriously harmed, wronged, and/or abused, and find it impossible to conform because they never had a chance to benefit from the laws that protect them. The system goes by tried and true laws and finds a place that’s right for the accused – somewhere between rehabilitation and punishment.
About the Author
Fannie Smith began her court reporting career in
The last eighteen years, she was an official for the First Judicial District, working for Judge Robert J. Breunig. The area was rural, and became urban, bordering the south and west Twin Cities. In 1967, we were four judges and four court reporters. When she retired in 1985, there were near thirty. Today, the number has more than doubled. District, county, and city judges became the same and rotated throughout the courts of the district. In the 1970’s court reporters became a “pool,” answering to a court administrator at the convenience of the court system.
Fannie Smith was an early machine writer – never saw one in
In 1985, Fannie retired with her husband, Maynard, of fifty years. Together they spend about half of their time either in