Juvenile Justice System Essay

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The Juvenile Justice System was a system created over a century ago to prevent young juveniles under the age of 17 to be process and tried as an adult. The Juvenile system was created to let juveniles have an easier sentencing with fair treatments and rehabilitation, but lately the system has been racially biased towards colored juveniles because of their skin color which results the system being unfair towards colored juveniles in the system. The Juvenile Justice System is racially bias towards colored juveniles, because colored juveniles are more likely to receive harsher treatments than their white counterparts, won’t receive enough resources for rehab, and receiving lack of legal representation for trials. Color juveniles are more likely to receive …show more content…

In the same article by the New York Times, “Children Caught in a Racist System,” in the St. Louis County there is only one public defender for juveniles, which makes it challenge for the attorney to be a legal representative for hundreds of juveniles in court. Juveniles who aren’t eligible to receive the public defender’s services, a back-up lawyer will be provided by a family court judge, but the parents of the juvenile needs to pay a fee for lawyer services. In this case, poor African-American juveniles who are in need of seeking legal representation, they are rejected and are provided a lawyer for a fee by a family judge, whereas white juveniles are able to get a lawyer for free or their parents are able to afford an attorney. This situation on how the system is providing a lawyer to poor African-American juveniles is completely unfair because in the U.S. Constitution anyone who isn’t able to receive a lawyer, they are eligible to get one for free at no charge, basically the system is violating juveniles’ constitutional