The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-03-09


juvenile court Is the fourth article of a
series which student of social prob
lens Is contributing TO the Palladium.
In these social studies which we
have been pursuing reference has
been made to the juvenile court as
general institution and this present
allusion seems to be necessary to ex-
plain that which has preceded and will
succeed the problem of delinquency.
The juvenile court is a court in every
sense of the word. 1t is not toy or a
miniature of real" court 1t does
not dispense diluted justice or miti-
gate its demands. The members of
the community should realize that the
juvenile court has to deal with prob
lens which require the finest and most
delicate judgment. A wrong decision
in the case of a hardened offender al
most at life's end and past all hope of
reformation is one thing; wrong de-
clsion in the case of rudy checked
lad or lass, standing at life's gateway,
is another The scales which mete
out justice for the young should be
sensitive to a hairs weight because
many of the sins of youth against So
ciety are embryonic.
feprodCn 10 home
The Juvenile court stands as a re-
proach to the modern home. In the
olden days, when it made some differ
ence to parents what their children
did or did not do, the wood-shed rep
resented all that is now connoted by
the juvenile court and the reform
school, but domestic and parental dis
cipline today ranks with the fossils
which antiquarians delight to disinter
Lacking wood-shed, the modern par
ent might use the garage. This is the
advice which the candidate for the
bench of neighboring Juvenile court
is giving to the people for whose votes
he is asking. He seems to think that
old-fashioned methods will produce
old-fashioned results. But, we are dis
cuss1ng the Juvenile court, not old
fashioned homes. Society is made the
receiver of the home that has become
bankrupt in the production of youth
full character and it's agent is the jul
venile court.
The judge, as society's representa-
tive, prescribes the correction provid-
ed by the statutes which is executed,
in the case of conviction, at a dis
proportionate expense to the taxpay-
ers. Whether this term "dispropor-
tomato is rightly used or not must be
decided by the reader when he consid-
ers that it is costing the state and
Wayne county $1,000 a year for the
fifteen boys and seventeen girls in
Juvenile reformatories.
One Of Three Things
When the discipline of the home
breaks down, if it exer existed. the
flnt- &c. ,,l,t
court by due legal processes. After a
proper trial. the judge must do one of
three things in the case of the accused:
Cd He must discharge him, (2) SEN
fence him to term i'm reform. or
semi-reform, school, or go release him
on suspended sentence on probation
The real usefulness of the Juvenile
court is shown in the third possibility
probation. The child who has not
had a chance before is to have
chance after his appearance in court.
The child is as truly ward of the
state when on probation as he would
be if he were confined in a state insti-
tuition. and the parents, guardians. or
friends OF the child are obliged to obey
the court under penalty of contempt
II is manifestly impossible for the
Judge to investigate all of the cases
Of juvenile offenders brought before
him. therefore at least one paid inves-
tigating officer is necessary to assist
the judge in securing proper evidence.
vitality Necessary
The Investigations made by. such an
officer are vitally necessary to the
proper presentation of cases in any
juvenile court. He gathers evidence
with an impartial mind and hand He
hears complaints and excuses, listens
TO the agonized mother declare that her
Willie or Mamie is an angel, while he
hears an outraged and indignant neigh
Dor assert that he or she ought to be
hung. Out of the heat created by this
ocal friction the social crucible is
raised TO point of temperature at
which the truth comes trickling out
and 1t Is this absolute, unbiased de-
post that the investigating officer re-
tains as evidence. This officer is real
ly the determining factor in the case.
There must be no animus or Partially
in his findings. He should lack the
blind determination to convict so often
displayed by the typical district attor-
ney and the sickly urge to acquit so
often shown by the typical lawyer for
the defense. The officer has but one
motive-to discover the evidence that
will do justice both to society and to
the accused. since the accused is part
of society. For that reason the inves-
tigating officer should be consecrated
and sympathetic. His sympathy will
not undo the wrong done to society.
perhaps. but it may move the offender
to repentance and start him on the
road to reformation. Knock-down-and-
drag-out methods harden the plastic
spirit of youthful offenders into steel
like resistance to the subsequent over
lures of society. One false move on
the part of the investigating officer
may turn a thoughtless boy into a life
long enemy of society.
The juvenile court judge should be
man learned in the law, especially