Public Support Levels For the Death Penalty - Public opinion supports the use of the death penalty.

- Polls show that public support of the death penalty is dropping. - In 2009, approximately 60 percent of Americans supported use of the death penalty, but that is down from a high of 80 percent in 1994. - Some people, called abolitionists, oppose the death penalty under all circumstances and for all reasons. The Deterrent Effect of the Death Penalty - One of the primary justifications for the use of the death penalty is that it is an effective deterrent to crime. - Some research studies claim that 3 to 18 murders are prevented for every inmate put to death. - Other research studies claim that there is an inverse relationship between the use of the death penalty and the crime rate crime goes down as the use of the death penalty goes up. - Researchers argue that correlations and data regarding the impact of the death penalty are unreliable. Furman v. Georgia - In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively banned the use of the death penalty with Furman v. Georgia, in which the Court issued its most significant ruling regarding the death penalty. - There are two important points to note about the Furman v. Georgia decision. o First, it did not declare that the death penalty was unconstitutional, only that the manner in which it was applied was unconstitutional. o Second, all states were required to submit proof to the U.S. Supreme Court that their use of the death sentence was fair, equitable, and proportional to the crime. - In effect, this ruling voided all existing death penalties and death penalty laws. Gregg v. Georgia - In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court issued another landmark decision in Gregg v. Georgia, which required a bifurcated trial structure in which trials for capital offenses had to be conducted in two separate parts. - In the first part of the trial, the jury determines the guilt of the defendant. - In the second part of the trial, after the defendant has been convicted, additional evidence can be introduced relevant to the punishment appropriate for the crime. Wilkerson v. Utah

An early appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court based on the Eighth Amendment was Wilkerson v. Utah (1878). Wilkerson appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court that his sentence of death by firing squad was cruel and unusual, but the Court upheld the constitutionality of the sentence.

The Innocent Convicted - The most significant argument behind the reexamination of the death penalty is the alarming murder of persons who have been wrongfully prosecuted and convicted. o Texas has executed 439 inmates between 1976 and 2009. o Texas has cleared 35 wrongfully convicted inmates during this same period. o 130 death row inmates have been exonerated nationwide. o 242 wrongfully convicted persons who The Innocence Project claims have been exonerated using DNA evidence. Official Misconduct and Error - The leading causes of wrongful convictions for murder were false confessions and perjury by codefendants, informants, police officers, or forensic scientists. - The three groups of people most likely to provide false confessions are those with mental retardation, those with mental illness, and juveniles. - Some prisoners appear to have been wrongfully convicted because they were framed by police and/or prosecutors. Racial Bias - A convicted person can obtain relief from the death penalty under the claim of racial discrimination only in the following circumstances. o If the decision makers in the case acted with discriminatory intent. o If the legislature enacted or maintained the death penalty statute because of an anticipated racially discriminatory effect. Number of Persons Executed Table 8.4 Method of Execution Total Lethal Injection Electrocution Lethal Gas White 672 576 83 8 Black 411 338 70 3 Hispanic 91 89 2 0 American Indian 8 7 1 0 Asian 6 6 0 0

Hanging Firing Squad

3 2

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

District Attorneys Office For the Third Judicial District v. Osborne - The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the denial of requests for DNA testing. - In District Attorneys Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne (2009), the Court ruled that prisoners do not have a constitution right to DNA testing after their conviction. Heres Something To Think About - Reasons the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission Rejected the Appeals of 897 Cases - No new evidence (27%) - No way to prove innocence (23%) - Not complete factual innocence (22%) - No reliable evidence (12%) - Failure to cooperate (9%) - Procedural errors (7%)

Reform Movements - The modern juvenile justice system has its roots in reform movements to save children from such conditions. - The foundation of the various reform movements was the acceptance by society of the premise that there are significant and fundamental differences between adults and juveniles. - Reform movements in the sixteenth century advocated that children had less developed moral and cognitive capacities. - In the 1800s, several reform movements focused on the general well-being of children, which included not only children charged with crimes but also children who had come into the custody of the state due to poverty, abandonment, and vagrancy. - Many private reform movements focused on providing care for children and removing them from the criminal justice system. Parens Patriae - Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the concept of parens patriae, or state as parent and guardian, began to become the predominant theme in structuring state agencies responsible for juveniles. - Parens patriae is the legal assumption that the state has primary responsibility for the safety and custody of children. Cook County Juvenile Court - Cook County, Illinois, is recognized as the site of the first juvenile court. - Established in 1899, the distinguishing characteristic of the Illinois juvenile court was the concept of original jurisdiction. - Original jurisdiction is the concept that juvenile court is the only court that has authority over juveniles, so they cannot be tried, for any offense, by a criminal court unless the juvenile court grants its permission for the accused juvenile to be waived to criminal court. The Juvenile Court - The juvenile court removed the child from the authority of the criminal court but it also assumed a much greater authority over the child than the criminal court has over accused adults. - The juvenile court assumed authority over children in three situations: o When the welfare of the child was threatened. o When the child was a status offender. o When the child was a delinquent. Classification of Juvenile Offenders - Juveniles are classified as status offenders or delinquents.

Status offenders are children who have committed an act or failed to fulfill a responsibility that if they were adults the court would not have any authority over them. o Common status offenses are failure to attend school, running away from parents or guardians, and engaging in behaviors while legal for adults is considered harmful for children. Delinquents are accused of committing an act that is criminal for both adults and juveniles. o Juvenile delinquents include offenders who have committed petty crimes such as theft, vandalism, and simple assault, and also robbery, rape, and murder.

In Re Gault Due Process Rights - In 1967, the Supreme Court expanded the due process rights of juveniles. - In reviewing In re Gault, the Supreme Court abandoned the arguments justifying lack of equal protection for juveniles under the Fourteenth Amendment. - The Supreme Court made significant changes to the very nature of the juvenile justice court proceedings, declaring that juveniles have the due process rights of: o Right to reasonable notice of the charges. o Right to counsel as well as appointed counsel if indigent. o Right to confront and cross-examine witnesses. o Right against self-incrimination, including the right to remain silent. In Re Winship Burden of Proof - Juvenile court proceedings are not criminal trials, so one of the differences between juvenile court proceedings and criminal trials prior to In re Winship was the standard of proof required for a judge to adjudicate, which is to hear and judge, an offender. - In civil cases the burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence, that is, is it more likely that the matter is true or not true? - In criminal cases the burden of proof is a much stricter proof beyond a reasonable doubt. - The Supreme Court ruled that the reasonable doubt standard, the same used in criminal trials, should be required in all delinquency adjudication. McKeiver v. Pennsylvania Right to Jury Trial - The Supreme Court ruled that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did not require jury trials in juvenile courts. - The decision also noted that judges presided in bench trials in criminal court and there was no evidence to suggest that juries are more accurate than judges in the adjudication stage.

In McKeiver v. Pennsylvania the Supreme Court agreed with the states argument that a jury trial would most likely destroy the traditional character of juvenile proceedings.

Due Process For Juveniles - Waiver Hearing Rights o The right to a waiver hearing. o The right to counsel at waiver hearings. o The right to access any reports and records used by the court in deciding waiver. o The right to a statement issued by the juvenile judge justifying waiver to the criminal court. - Due Process Rights o Right to reasonable notice of the charges. o Right to counsel as well as appointed counsel if indigent. o Right to confront and cross-examine witnesses. o Right against self-incrimination, including the right to remain silent. - Burden of Proof - Right to Jury Trial - Double Jeopardy - Right to Bail Blended Sentencing - Blended sentencing options create a middle ground between traditional juvenile sanctions and adult sanctions. - Juvenile-Exclusive Blend o The juvenile court may impose a sanction involving either the juvenile or adult correctional systems. - Juvenile-Inclusive Blend o The juvenile court may impose both juvenile and adult correctional sanctions. o The adult sanction is suspended pending a violation and revocation. - Juvenile-Contiguous Blend o The juvenile court may impose a juvenile correctional sanction that may remain in force after the offender is beyond the age of the courts extended jurisdiction, at which point the offender may be transferred to the adult correctional system. - Criminal-Exclusive Blend o The criminal court may impose a sanction involving either the juvenile or adult correctional systems. - Criminal-Inclusive Blend o The criminal court may impose both juvenile and adult correctional sanctions.

o The adult sanction is suspended, but is reinstated if the terms of the juvenile sanction are violated and revoked. Intake - The process whereby a juvenile enters the juvenile justice system is called intake. - About 85 percent of juvenile intakes are initiated by the police. - Legislation and federal programs encourage and provide for the separation of adults from juveniles in all stages of processing through the system. - The other 15 percent of juveniles can enter the system through referral by a parent of guardian, school official, social worker, juvenile probation officer, or juvenile court officer. - Most juveniles who are apprehended by the police for criminal activity are released to a parent of guardian. - In the case of apprehension for serious crimes or where the juvenile is thought to be a danger to himself or herself or to society, the juvenile may be placed in a secure lockup facility. - If the juvenile is not a danger to self or society, the police may simply gather information concerning the alleged incident, return the child to the custody of a parent of guardian, and notify the juvenile court of the contact and forward a copy of the report to the juvenile court. Juvenile Boot Camps - A hybrid model of treatment for juveniles that involves elements from both residential placement and probation is juvenile boot camps. - Juvenile boot camps are popular treatment programs for juvenile delinquents. - The goal of treatment is to alter the character and values of the offender, as juveniles are seen as more likely to change than are older offenders. - Some authorities ague that the military-style strict discipline and grouporiented environment is a direct opposition to the type of positive interpersonal relationships and supportive atmosphere that are needed for youths positive development. - Another major criticism of juvenile boot camps is the lack of follow-up after release. - Research indicates that youths who participate in boot camps have more positive perceptions of their institutional environment than do juveniles in traditional facilities, but the lack of follow-up data makes it difficult to judge the impact of boot camps on recidivism rates. Child Protective Services

One of the components of the juvenile justice system is child protective services, or CPS, which provides services to children who are abused, neglected, victimized, or in need of care. Child protective services has the legal responsibility to conduct assessments or investigations of reports of child abuse and neglect and to offer rehabilitative services to families where maltreatment ahs occurred or is likely to occur. It also has the authority to remove a child from his or her parent or guardian or living environment and place the child under the care of the sate if CPS deems there is a serious threat to the health or welfare of the child.

Hybrid Youth Gangs - Hybrid gangs are a new type of youth gang with distinctive characteristics that differentiate them from traditional gangs. - Hybrid gangs are frequently school based, less organized, less involved in criminal activity, and less involved in violence than are traditional gangs. - New hybrid gangs have younger members, have more female members, and are less involved in drug trafficking and violent crimes than traditional youth gangs. - Hybrid youth gangs are less territory based, racially mixed, lacking in formal organizational structure and rules, and are much more transient in membership. - Hybrid gangs have significantly different patters of membership and organizational structure than traditional gangs. Female Youth Gangs - Estimates of the number of female gang members remain low (3.7 to 11 percent). - Female gangs are more likely to be found in small cities and rural areas than in large cities. Most female gangs are either Black or Latina. - Female gangs have significantly different and unique characteristics when compared to male gangs. - Females tend to leave the gang by the time they have reached their late 20s. - Female gang members commit fewer crimes than male gang members. - Drug offenses are among the most common offenses committed by female gang members. - Females join gangs because of victimization at home, especially sexual abuse. Reducing Bullying - Bullying has been identified as a common factor among school shooters. - Children who were bullied, including verbal abuse, or who witnessed others being bullied frequently suffered emotional anxiety and physical symptoms such as feeling sick.

Bullies are often popular and viewed by classmates as the coolest in their classes and dont show signs of depression or social anxiety, and do not suffer from low self-esteem. Antibullying strategies and programs are being promoted as a means to prevent school violence by teaching students mediation and negotiation skills, training teachers and staff in intervention techniques, and stressing the importance of intervening.

Contact Teams - When shooters have no desire to negotiate and their only goal is to kill as many as possible, rapid response is absolutely necessary. - The new police strategy adopted since Columbine is called active-shooter response. - This strategy trains police officers to form on-the-spot response teams called contact teams rather than wait for SWAT or special response teams and to enter the building and make their way toward the shooter while ignoring all other demands such as wounded victims and persons needing evacuation. - The purpose of the contact team is to locate and neutralize the shooter. Innocence Lost? - Today, juvenile courts are finding that they must yield some of the exclusive jurisdiction they exercised over young offenders back to the criminal justice system. - The public has become more willing to accept that juvenile delinquents, especially violent offenders, are fully culpable for their actions. - The public has lost faith that, with treatment, a change of environment, discipline, education, and training, juvenile delinquents can be saved. - The public seems less willing to recognize the innocence and immaturity of juveniles and more willing to accept that due to changes in environment and values, children are more adult-like at a younger age. - The get tough policy characteristic of dealing with adult offenders appears to be migrating to juvenile offenders and is resulting in changes to the juvenile justice system. - Some segments of the public appear willing to some degree to return to pre1899 treatment of juvenile offenders by transferring them to the criminal justice system. - Parents no longer feel that childhood is a time of innocence. - Parents fear their children will be abducted and molested by child sex offenders, fear the influence of gangs on their children and the danger posed by gangs to their children, fear their children will abuse drugs, and fear their children will be murdered at school.