Juvenile Justice in California: Facts & Issues
Prepared by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund, Juvenile Justice Study Committee. September 1996.

The Court Process

Children who have committed criminal acts are brought into the delinquency division of the Juvenile Court. Almost all cases begin with the arrest by a police officer. The police officer has discretion to release the minor to his or her parents, give a citation for a minor offense, or take the minor into custody and describe the alleged offense to the Probation Department.

Most juveniles arrested do not appear in court and some are referred to a local diversion program. Since many juvenile halls are overcrowded, only the arrestees accused of violent crimes will definitely be held while the others may be released.

The Probation Department or the District Attorney decides whether to file a petition, thereby alleging that a crime has been committed. If the nature of the crime is particularly severe, the District Attorney may request that the juvenile be remanded (referred) to adult court because he/she is unfit to be judged as a juvenile.

**Who Exercises Discretion in the Juvenile Justice System?**
Schools	Identify truant youths. Expel/suspend students who commit offenses on school grounds...
Police/Sheriffs	Can warn offenders or cite and release offenders. Detain or arrest juvenile offenders Transport offenders to juvenile hall.
Probation Department	Decide whether or not to accept and "book" the juvenile offenders in juvenile hall. Make recommendations whether juveniles should be adjudicated in juvenile court or tried as adults. Recommend placement options--home, foster care, county incarceration, or Youth Authority to juvenile court judges. Supervise juveniles in the community and in juvenile hall, ranches, and camps.
District Attorneys	File charges; and reduce, modify, or drop charges
Judges	Determine whether the juvenile is guilty as charged. Assign the offender to probation, foster care or group home, other alternative program, juvenile ranch or camp, or CYA. Determine whether a juvenile accused of a serious offense is unfit to be judged as a juvenile and should be remanded to adult court.
Youth Authority	Incarcerates wards and inmates and supervises parolees ranging in age from 12 to 24 years old.
Youthful Offender Parole Board	Orders the program of treatment for juvenile court-committed wards. Decides when wards are eligible for parole and revokes parole for violators.

Source:(in part) Legislative Analyst's Office, Juvenile Crime: Outlook for California, 1995, 48

A minor has the following rights in the court process: the right to remain silent, the right for a parent or responsible relative to be notified, the right to an attorney and that the court will appoint an attorney if the juvenile cannot afford one, the right to be given a copy of the petition (charge), and the right to a trial to confront and cross-examine witnesses. Juveniles do not have the right to bail or trial by jury.

[DISPOSITION OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN CALIFORNIA]

Source: included in materials prepared by CYA for review by the Task Force to Review Juvenile Crime and the Juvenile Justice Response, 1996.

Intervention and settlement procedures, including release for informal probation, electronic monitoring, or intensive supervision, may be used at various times to reduce the need for court trials. The trial where the court determines whether the charges are true may be called an adjudication hearing.

At the disposition (sentencing) hearing, the judge or referee will receive the probation/social worker's written report, medical, psychiatric or other reports, and other evidence or arguments. For the minors whose petition are "sustained," (that is, who are found guilty of the charges) the judge or referred may declare them delinquent and "wards" of the court. This means that the "care, custody and control" of the minors are taken from their parents or guardian and given either to the County Probation Department or the California Youth Authority (CYA).

General guidelines for ordering dispositions are set out in California Welfare and Institutions Code (W&I) Section 202. The judge or referee will decide whether the child should be placed at home on probation, in foster care in an out-of-home placement, county ranch or camp, a CYA facility, or other placement. If a minor is tried and convicted in adult court, he or she may be sentenced to the state adult corrections system, but placed in a CYA facility until age 25.

W&I Code 202 recommends that, when the court removes the delinquent youth from his/her home, the court work to provide the care, treatment, and guidance the minor needs, keeping in mind the best interests of both the minor and the community. The Code also recommends that the court work toward reunifying the minor with the family and community when possible and appropriate.

CYA facilities represent the last resort for the repeat, serious offender.

The Youthful Offender Parole Board (YOPB) is appointed by the governor. The Board determines the length of stay and required programs for individual wards and whether they are eligible for release. In 1978, following the implementation of the adult determinate sentencing act, the Board adopted uniform confinement guidelines. These are based on the seriousness of the crime and the youth's prior record. Three times since then, as California's adult sentencing laws have extended mandated sentences, the YOPB has increased sentences for CYA wards. <48> Longer sentences have contributed to an increase in the CYA population from 5,700 in June 1985 to 9,400 in 1994. <49>

Issues:

Reports and interviews throughout the state have brought up certain issues to be considered in this court process.

The backlog of cases means that there may be little attention to the individual. A minor may meet his/her attorney only a few moments before a court appearance.
The rotation and status of assignment of judges often does not allow for quality, consistency, or leadership, and the advantage of training and expertise are lost. Also Judges pro tem may sit in smaller courts or substitute for regular juvenile court judges.
The lack of sufficient numbers and high turnover of trained staff - district attorneys, public defenders, conflict attorneys, probations court officers - may compromise the service to juveniles. Delays in the court hearings occur when an attorney is assigned to more than one courtroom.

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Prepared by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund, Juvenile Justice Study Committee. September 1996.