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Juvenile Court Competency

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Competency to Stand Trial In criminal court, when the question of CST is posed, the court requests an evaluation from a mental health professional on knowing whether the defendant has any mental illness or mental defect that would interfere with their ability to participate in proceedings of the court (Pillay, 2014). The court also seeks evidence from a mental health professional on whether the defendant had a mental illness or mental defect at the time of the examination, and by that, likely, the time of the trial (Pillay, 2014). There are standardized assessment tools that have been developed to help assess adult competency (Baranoski, 2003). Although there is no statutory distinction between adult and child competency, most courts recognize that cases with adolescents are different (Baranoski, 2003). In this case, a competency evaluation is adjusted to meet the needs of the juvenile and the court (Baranoski, 2003). Applying the Dusky Standard to Juveniles …show more content…

In 1967, the Supreme Court’s decision in In re Gault validated that juveniles fall under the United States Constitution, and therefore have a right to a competency test (Romaine, Kemp, & DeMatteo, 2010). It is in applying the Dusky Standard to juvenile cases that the statute becomes unclear – it is much more uncertain whether Dusky applies equally to juvenile court, and if Dusky standards should be different for juvenile defendants in criminal court (Sanborn, 2009). Twenty states consistently process defendants in juvenile court without a clear standard for CST, while eighteen have implemented detailed standards on CST in juvenile court (Sanborn,

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In reviewing People v Price, 172 Mich App386, 300-400; 431 NW2d829 (1988), the court found that the panel ruled that the juvenile record was automatically expunged and therefore could not be considered for the purpose of sentencing (justlaw). Conversely, the court found in People v Jones, 173 Mich App 341, 343; 433 NW2d 829 (1988), a second panel concluded that the expunged criminal history of juveniles was admissible in the presentence report as well as the consideration during

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678 Words | 3 Pages

This case appears to shed light on a situation where many juveniles before Kent could have not been given the right protection of due process under the 5th and 14th amendment in the constitution. In re Gault (1967) Citation: Kent v. United States, 383 U. S. 541, 562 (1966) Procedural History: Gault was taken into custody on a compliant that he had made lewd telephone calls to his neighbor. He was taken into custody while his parents was at work and they was not notified and came home looking for him. Issue: Were the procedures used to commit Gault constitutionally legitimate under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? Should juveniles have the same due process rights as adults?

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891 Words | 4 Pages

The court noted that if Gault had been 18 years of age at the time of his arrest, he would have been afforded the procedural safeguards available to adults. They went on to closely examine the juvenile court system, determining that while there are legitimate reasons for treating juveniles and adults differently, juveniles facing an adjudication of delinquency involving incarceration are entitled to certain procedural safeguards under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gault by reversing and remanding his sentence from the lower courts (In re Gault,

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1069 Words | 5 Pages

CASE: In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 28 (1967) The right to counsel when facing the prospect of institutionalization was clearly articulated in the case of In re Gault (Elrod & Ryder, 2014). The decision, in this case, was the turning point for the rights of juvenile within the United States Courts (In re Gault, n.d.). This was the first time that the Supreme Court held that children facing delinquency prosecution had several of the same legal rights as adults within criminal courts (In re Gault, n.d.). Rights included the right to an attorney, the right to remain silent, the right to notification of charges, and the right to a full hearing on the merits of the case (In re Gault, n.d.).

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1926 Words | 8 Pages

Children have been found to experience much higher levels of communication difficulty in the criminal justice system and this diminishes their ability to give evidence with the coherence desired by the court to facilitate prosecution of crime. In the case of R-v- Green youth court, the court held that There was no absolute right for a defendant to be allowed to face his accusers. Special measures to protect a vulnerable or intimidated witness from the accused would not normally be applicable to a defendant witness, but other means were available to a court to assist a defendant in ensuring that where he had communication difficulties, his case was put across properly. The court had an obligation to achieve fairness in each particular case, and that requirement was met by the system. This application was dismissed but the ruling gave critical understanding that a child under 17 years qualifies to be a vulnerable witness if they have communication difficulty and vulnerability was more circumstantial than mere age

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707 Words | 3 Pages

The many significant trials of juveniles, including Kent, have dramatically shaped and

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863 Words | 4 Pages

“The court consistently held that children are entitled to the same due process as adults. With that understood, however, the Court has also consistently held that, from a developmental standpoint, youth are different from adults, which greatly impacts how courts should treat them in a whole host of areas, such as waiver of rights, culpability, and punishment” (National Juvenile Defender Center). This shows that the juvenile delinquent cases before In Re Gault were not highly regulated. The Court believed that handling juveniles needed to be very different from the way the courts handle adult cases. In Re Gault changed that.

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(Roper v. Simmons, 2005) As the justice of the Supreme Court, there needs to be an end to "totality of the circumstances" in some juvenile offender’s cases. If every juvenile offender's attorney claim age as a “reasonable grounds” to have their case overturned this will become a continuous problem throughout the United States. The Court has recognized that juveniles lack maturity in judgment, have an underdeveloped sense of responsibility, are vulnerable to adverse influences than adults, impulsive, reckless, risk-taking, and cannot extricate themselves from detrimental crime producing situations. (Elrod & Ryder, 2014)

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856 Words | 4 Pages

After some time, most courts have taken the stance that the juvenile record of an individual can be thought about by a judge while considering a proper punishment for a now adult offender. “When, however, a juvenile offender appears in court again as an adult, his juvenile offense record may be considered in imposing sentence” (Elrod & Ryder,

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1783 Words | 8 Pages

According to this ruling, children are “more vulnerable… to negative influences and outside pressures.” Minors have limited control over their own environment. This ruling made Miller’s (as well as Jackson’s) mitigating factors a vital component to the Supreme Court’s ruling (“Certiorari to the Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama” par. 6). Davis 4 Evan Miller’s counsel filed a Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court, and the Court granted review in November of 2011 after denied appeals on the Alabama state level (Swift par.

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1614 Words | 7 Pages

Tyler’s loose associations thought process and education not meeting a high school diploma, it is only fair to evaluate her competency to stand trial. The Competency Screening Test (CST) will determine whether the individual can function well in their intended role in the case or proceedings. The CST screening tool involves using case scenarios where the defendant will write a response that will be rated on a 0-2 scale (Nicholson, 1991). Also, the Georgia Court Competency Test will assist in determining whether Ms. Tyler understands her physical position and functional role as well as the participant’s in court and their roles in the case. The Fitness Interview Test will determine Ms. Tyler’s understanding of legal terms and evaluate her competence in making a legal decision.

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297 Words | 2 Pages

Teen Court Teen court also known as youth courts is a juvenile justice system program that permits teens to try and sentence their fellow peers for committing minor and status offenses. The main purpose of the teen court is to make young offenders accountable for their wrong doing by paying the price for their offences. However this system keeps first time offenders away from the Juvenile system and gives them a chance to change. In order for a youth to be considered to serve on a teen court, the young individual must be 8th to 12th grade with good academic standing, the teen must be nominated by teacher, parent or him or herself, an application must be filled up and signed with the parent’s approval.

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1878 Words | 8 Pages

Doing away with juvenile courts would “assure greater procedural regularity in the determination of guilt” and eliminate the immense amount of subjectivity involved (Feld). Although this may assist in assigning guilt among juvenile offenders in more serious crimes, it may be slightly extreme to try minors in criminal court for petty offences. Feld addresses the apparent problem of subjectivity and trying minors in criminal court would help diminish that bias, yet he only considers the application of more serious crimes that would have mandatory sentences of five years or more, not both the serious crimes and the approach to smaller-scale crimes. Although he remains somewhat blind to part of the overall argument, the information provided is well researched and knowledgeable. Feld himself is also highly

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627 Words | 3 Pages

In Chapter 7, the subject of childhood witnesses was briefly discussed as one of the methods that can be used to challenge the competency. A child witness is anyone who is under the age of 18 who is expected to testify about something he or she experienced, saw or heard. A competency examination regarding a child may be conducted only if the court determines, on the record, that compelling reasons exist. A child’s age alone is not a compelling reason. There are only certain peoples that are permitted to be present during the competency examination, those are: (1) the judge, (2) the attorney for the Government, (3) the attorney for the defendant, (4) a court reporter and, (5) a person whose presence is necessary for the welfare and well-being of the child, this may include the child 's attorney, child 's parent or guardian.

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1043 Words | 5 Pages

Annotated bibliography Childress, S. (2016, June 2). More States Consider Raising the Age for Juvenile Crime. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/more-states-consider-raising-the-age-for-juvenile-crime/ More states are considering to raising the age for juvenile crimes before being tried as adult because young offender's mental capacity. The idea is to cut the cost of incarcerate young offender in adult prison and ensure offenders to receive proper education and specialized care to change their behavior. Putting children in adult prison does not deter crime.

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