National Center for Policy Analysis
MONTH IN REVIEW
Crime
June,1996
JUVENILE JUSTICE
The California Supreme Court will decide as early as next month whether
to apply "three strikes and you're out" laws to juveniles. A
law it's reviewing mandates 25 years to life for a third felony.
Study after study confirms that repeat offenders commit much, if not most,
of predatory violent crimes. And many juvenile offenders are becoming violent
at earlier ages.
- Around 1900, the juvenile court system was established to provide
special treatment for young people in trouble -- usually for running away
from home, truancy and petty theft.
- By the 1950s and '60s, stealing hubcaps, brawls and drinking had replaced
the relatively innocent crimes of that earlier era.
- By the 1960s, perhaps well-intended social program had unintended
results -- including a dramatic rise in out-of-wedlock births and a new
generation, morally illiterate and ripe for crime.
- By 1974, nearly half of all serious crime in America was committed
by offenders under 18.
By 1984, juveniles were committing 1,130 acts of murder, and accounting
for 592,372 arrests for serious felonies such as rape, robbery, aggravated
assault and arson.
Today, while homicides committed by adults have declined 18 percent over
the past four years, murders by juveniles are up 22 percent and an even
more horrendous juvenile crime situation is predicted over the next decade.
Proponents of applying the "three strikes" law to juveniles and
subjecting them to adult justice
contend that a felony is a felony and should be used to increase sentencing.
Source: Joseph Sorrentino (Los Angeles criminal prosecutor), "A Felony's
a Felony, Whether You're a Kid or Adult," USA Today, June 11,
1996.
PLAYING THE "SHAME" CARD IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
In courts across the country, judges are experimenting with public humiliation
sentences -- as an addition or alternative to traditional fines and prison
time -- to deter further criminal conduct.
Here are some of the more imaginative sentences:
- Forcing child molesters to post signs in front of their homes describing
their crimes.
- Ordering convicts to clean up public streets and stables.
- Sentencing wife batterers to apologize to their spouses before women's
groups.
- Ordering a teen-age vandal who had defaced school properties to return
to every one of the 13 schools involved and apologize to the students and
answer questions.
A Memphis, Tennessee, judge likes to escort burglary victims to the thieves'
homes and invite them to take whatever they want.
While there is as yet no statistical evidence confirming the effectiveness
of shame sentences, advocates think they see evidence that such orders act
as a deterrent to further crimes.
Such debasing sentences are not likely to be handed down in federal courts,
where judges must follow strict sentencing guidelines. But some states
give their judges broader discretion. Shaming penalties have been upheld
by appellate courts in Florida and Oregon.
Source: El Nasser, "Judges Say 'Scarlet Letter' Angle Works,"
USA Today, June 25, 1996.