The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-12-15
JUVENILE
OFFENDERS
Judge Tells Thursday
Club How New
Law Works.

The Thursday Club held their week
~ dinner and literary session last night
at the Y NJ c. A and We're addressed
by Judge William l. Whitney of the
local District Court and by ex-Judge L
| A Dickey of the same court. Judge s
B, Kingsbury, lately admitted to the
local bar on certificates from other
states, presided very acceptably.
Judge Whitney spoke of the police
| court, which he said was the peoples
| court where they could by going to the
District Magistrates clerk have com
| which. said he, is much better WY TO
| do things than to take the Jaw into ones
| own hands. He presented one of the
| longest calendars, in which 1876 cases
terday in which only twenty cases ap-
peared.
He said it was a common idea that
the police court. over which he pre-
sides. is merely or mostly for the sem
fencing of DRINKS, whereas the facts
were that the DRINKS take up very
small part of the space of the calendar
and time of the out. In this list of
195, there were but two DRINKS and
over 100 gambling cases, besides en-
bezzlement, theft, profanity, assault
and battery and many other classes OF
cases. The hardest cases coming be-
n he bo of
disag reements between man and wife.
The cases averaged about 1000 per
month and out of these but 7.9 per cent.
We're DRINKS. The idea of the district
courts was principally to deter others
from acts such as he adjudicated, while
courts that passed life or capital SEN
fences did so to keep the criminal him
self from doing further damage to the
community. !!
Speaking of the juvenile court, So
called, Judge Whitney declared it was
not a court at all. Jurisdiction had
been conferred by the last Legislature
of the Territory upon circuit and dis
trict judges so that they could appoint
probationary officers and keep children
under fifteen from going to the reform
school. if they showed disposition to
forty cases before him under the new
law and the procedure was for the
court to sentence the offender to two
years, say, in the reform school and
han n 70 a f.
f1cer for the space of six or eight weeks,
during which time the child was re-
quired to report to the probationary
officer once in so often, carrying the
reports himself from his employer or
school teacher, or principal of the
school, as the case might be, and the
probationary officer would report to the
court at the end of the term or sooner
as to what disposition, in his opinion,
should be made of the case.
The proba tionary officers report
would recommend that the child be
discharged, or that he be sent to the
reform school or that he be given
further term of probation. And the
court would usually follow the recon-
mendatfons of the officer. Such Off
GERS serve without pay, merely as pub
Iic-spirited citizens.
The beauty of the law was that the
probationary officer was expected to
keep close tab on the child under his
charge and see that he behaved him
self, making a very complete report
to the court of the conditions at the
home of the delinquent and such other
facts as the court ought to know.
In reply to a question as TO how the