Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-04-24
JUVENILE COURT BILL
may Be PASSED TODAY

The johnson Juvenile Court bill, re-
vising and reorganizing the Juvenile
Court of the District of Columb bia.
later today, as it was taken up in
committee of the whole when the
House met today. with only few sec
tions to be discussed. Representative
Tinkham of Massachusetts. in charge
of the bill on the floor. had several
legal arguments with various interest
ed members of the House. particularly
Representatives Gard of Ohio, Tribble
of Georgia and Towner of Iowa. An
amendment, offered by Representative
Gard clarifying some of the language,
was adopted.
When the last section of the bill had
been reached Representative Clark oi
Florida offered amendment nrovid-
ing that in every case white children
should be separated from coIored chill
dren in all institutions under the juris-
diction of the court. The amendment
started lively sectional debate.
The bill makes several radical
makes the Juvenile Court an equity
court rather than criminal court. 1t
is the result of the labors of well
known lawyers and sociologists. The
an extract from the report to the
House. in which it is stated:
Now Is Police Court.
1.-The present Juvenile Court. estab-
lished by an act of Congress March
10, 1906. was found to be a police
court for children, which had original
and exclusive jurisdiction of all per-
was found that the present Juvenile
Court must punish of fine for all crimes
that are misdemeanors, and for all
crimes other than misdemeanors must
hold the person for the grand jury
So. under this act, children must be
charged with crime and, if con-
victed, have a permanent criminal rec
ord established Between June 30,
1907. and June 30. 1913, more than
1000 children were found guilty of
crime. and. ipso facto, are disqualified
from jury service. holding office and
entering public service.
The proposed bill rests upon a broad
and humane theory diametrically opposed
to the present law. 1t enunciates the
generous and clement principle that the
child who finds mis- way into court is not
to be regarded as a criminal, but rather
as the ward of the nation. whose indi-
vidual welfare comedies with the we'll
being of the state and should be saved
to it rather than prosecuted by it.
THE present law Furnishes the child
the proposed bill establishes judicial
guardianship of the child to protect and
help, not to punish and stigmatize it,
Every provision in the bill has these prin-
ciples in view. In the proposed bill crimi-
tition is substituted for the criminal in
formation and complaint, and a summons
takes the place Of a warrant. Indiscrimi-
nate public inspection of the records of
hn 10
allowed in the discretion of the Judge
The court is given plenary authority to
treat individually the juvenile problem.
The proposed bill increases the age of the
child from seventeen to eighteen years
over whom the court shall have jurisdic-
ton.
Power of Court Broadened.
The present law does not allow the
court to directly commit any child to any
care except that Of training school, The
proposed bill gives the court complete
discretion as to the custodal care of the
child.
any proceedings against adults who may
be really responsible for the child's de-
linauency The proposed bill makes easy
such proceedings
..The proposed law calls for no appro-
priation the appropriation for the present
court being sufficient
"The tenure of the judge is increased
from six years under the present law to
ten years under the proposed bill"
The first vote on the Clark amend
ment was defeat for the democratic
side as there happened to be four more
renublicans than democrats in the
House. and the proposition to segregate
children of the two races in the various
institutions was lost by SO to 5S. Rep
resentative Hefiin of Alabama. Repre-
sentative Clark Of Florida and others
Immediately sent out for supporters
and began drawing up another amend