Evening star., 1954-01-15
Enforcement
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was to, the "too pervasive" inf1u-
ence of the Juvenile Court social
work department, the committee
concluded that IAN additional
point of view is required"
This should be provided by the
Assistant Corporation Counsel
assigned to the court, the report
said. He should examine all
cases with the aim to protect the
community against the more Sc
rious juvenile offenders. it was
urged.
| Too many cases--25 Of 100
sampled-are closed without
court review at the discretion Of
court social workers who showed
such excessive optimism
toward the outcome of their
handling Of cases as to warrant
concern" among committee
members.
And in those cases where the
Assistant Corporation Counsel
disagrees with the findings of
the social work department. he
should have the power to make
his own independent recommen-
dations to the Juvenile Court
! Judge, the committee urged,
Assumes Entire Burden.
| Under the present system. the
report noted. the judge. receiv-
ing recommendations by only the
social work department, is placed
in the difficult and incongru-
GUS" position of assuming al
most the entire burden Of
enforcing respect for the law"
The same Assistant Corpora
ton Counsel should also work
in closer relationship with po-
lice, it was urged.
Next IN the concern of the
j. committee is the effectiveness
with which the jurisdictional
waiver is carried out by Juvenile
Court. Where children Is or
II years old have committed
crimes Of serious and aggres-
Sive" nature, removal of juris-
diction from Juvenile Court to
Federal District Court should be
assured. the committee declared.
This could best be done, ac-
cording to the findings. by the
following procedure: Police
would submit the record of a
case to the United States attor-
ney's Office: that Office would
recommend to Juvenile Court
whether the case was serious
enough to warrant District Court
action; should the United States
attorney recommend that course.
the Juvenile Court social work
department would Immediately
provide a social study of the
child involved; the social study
would then be screened by the
United States attorneys office
and a waiver recommendation
made to the Juvenile Court
judge. Should the court reject
a waiver recommendation, the
United States attorneys Office
would have leave to request
review and ruling by the chief
judge of the Municipal Court of
Appeals, who would have final
decision.
LOO FelOnies Listed.
The committee pointed out
that in the last two years nearly
1,700 felonies were charged
against children between 16 and
18 years old. OF this number, it
is estimated that Juvenile Court
waived jurisdiction in only 80
cases.
1.-THE arbitrary 18-year divid-
ing line between juveniles and
adults does not correspond to
reality in the case of these pre-
maturely developed criminals" Z"
the report asserted. "These are
the persons and theirs are the
offenses for which the waiver
provision of the Juvenile Court
Act were intended"
The committee urged the
United States Attorney as the
reviewing agency since he serves
| as the prosecutor of adult vio-
lators of Federal laws here.
Under the provision, police
would keep their present right
to request jurisdictional waiver
and so would the Juvenile Court
judge on her own motion.
On the subject Of liaison among
agencies. the committee spoke of
sharp lines" dividing these
agencies. For example:
"The Metropolitan Police juve-
nile squad directs it's activities
primarily to the apprehension Of
the wrong-doer.
The Juvenile Court then
works with the child. seemingly
in a vacuum, without the benefit
Of the background which might
be provided by the juvenile squad
and without consulting the Pub
lie Welfare Department as to the
facilities available for the treat
ment Of the child.
unless the disposition of the
case is dismissal or probation,
the child then passes into the
hands Of the Public Welfare De-
partment or the National Train
ing School for Boys and the
court takes no further part In
and hears no more of his case.
The result Of such compart-
mentation is harmful to the chill
-