Evening star., 1936-03-22

STATES now nave
Juvenile court laws embodying the
principles contained in the District
Juvenile court bill, and as none of
these States has encountered the dire
possibilities" suggested by few critics
of the local bill, there is no reason to
believe that any abuse of the bills
provisions would be encountered In
the District, he says.
Section "a of the proposed law spe-
cifically confers upon ANY party ag-
prieved" by the Juvenile Court the
right of appeal to the Court of APP
peals of the District, Miller points out.
In this matter of legal recourse, he
adds further, such aggrieved party
may seek q writ of habeas corpus et-
fecting removal of any child from
custody and may continue by insti-
tuting action charging abuse OF dis
cretion on the part of the court Judges
Health Service Theory.
School and public health officials
already have powers comparable to
those proposed for the Juvenile Court
with no widespread objection being
raised to their application OF their
authority. he says.
THE District of Columbia is one
of the most benighted areas in the
country in this respect" Miller de-
clared Yesterday. For instance, the
State of California had a law similar
to the standard one 80 years ago. OBJ
lectors to the law here refuse to ac-
cept the fact that this is a removal
of the criminal court in favor OF some
thing entirely different.
Here we have a court set-up en-
bracing jury trials, right of counsel,
warrants, etc. From one angle these
are rightly considered elements of
protection. From the opposite angle,
however, we find a lot Of children
being brought to a court where they
are branded as criminals.
Even those who supervise all law
enforcement adhere to the theory that
prevention is most important of all.
Then why not give these youngsters
q chance, attempt to cure the condl-
tions that caused their offenseS?
When these boys come into Juvenile
Court now they are marked. Their
record bars them from the Army, the
Navy, the C. C. C. They become pub
lice enemies.
THE proposed law would enable the
court to become parent to a child
if its normal home circumstances were
not considered suitable"
How about the possibility Of the
court abusing this privilege, perhaps
in cases where personal enmity exists
between the Judge and parents Of
some child?" Miller was asked.
Wherever discretion is vested there
Is always possibility of abuse" he an
swered. But there is no immediate
safeguard against the health officer
going into a private home and order
ing a person to the pest house or plac-
ing the home under quarantine. The
fact that 80 or more States have such
juvenile court law and have recorded
no such abuses is an effective answer.
Then there is the legal protection af-
forded in section "a in the right of
appeal"
Pioneers in the field of removing
the Juvenile Court set-up from the
criminal into the social theory were
California, Illinois, Massachusetts,,
Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia and
New York. On the basis of their early
laws the so-called standard act has
been developed.
States With Similar Laws.
Other States now having some vari-
alton of this law include Alabama,
Arizona, Delaware, two counties in
Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana,
Kentucky, one parish in Louisiana,
Missouri, Montana. Nebraska, New
Jersey, North Dakota, Utah, Mary
land, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Con-
necticut, Iowa, Maine, New Mexico,
Mississippi, New York, North Caro-
lima, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South
Carolina and Washington.
The present law under which the
District Juvenile Court functions is
based upon an act of Congress of
1906, giving the children's branch of
the Police Court a legal foundation.
Attempts to improve the local law
have been made for many years. AS
long ago as 1914 a special committee
named by the Attorney General in
cluded the following statement in its
report on the Juvenile Court problem
here:
IF the real function of the Juvenile
Court of the District of Columbia Is
to be worked out, if it is to become
an institution contributing its share
to the salvation Of the children of the
District, it must rest upon law, the
thought and spirit of which is funda-
mentally different from existing legis-
lation. The recreated court must
abandon the traditions of the criminal
law and criminal court and must con-
form to the humane lines embodied
4. in the newer Juvenile Court legisla-
ton"