Transcript Arkansas Juvenile Justice System

Arkansas Juvenile
Justice System
By:
Brittnay, Cassandra, Allaire, and Jackie
We Chose this State Because…
*The main reason why we choose Arkansas is to better
understand its juvenile Justice System compared to
Massachusetts.
*Get some insight on the public views on Juveniles who
commit crimes from a state like Arkansas.
Juvenile Justice System of Arkansas
*System focuses on Rehabilitation of the juvenile offender
and victim restitution.
*Depending on some crimes children between the ages of
14 years old or older can be prosecuted as an adult in
Circuit Court during that process children are then seen
as adults and not juveniles.
Cont…
*In Arkansas, children that are believed to have committed a
crime may have the opportunity to file a Delinquent petition,
which summons the juvenile to an adjudication hearing.
*Generally when these allegations are found to be true a
juvenile is seen as a “adjudicated Delinquent”
Arkansas: What Happens When a Child
Gets Involved in the System
*When juveniles become an adjudicated Delinquent the judge then
has the authority to have the juvenile undergo counseling, place
juvenile in probation or require the delinquent to perform
community service.
*The judges also decide the appropriate measures for the juveniles
some services that are available for the juveniles may be the
Division of Youth Services or Detention halls.
Continued…
*Children that are incarcerated before or after the hearing are
placed into juvenile detention center or transferred into a
custody service.
*The criminal acts that are committed by these children are
viewed as juvenile delinquents and under the Arkansas
Juvenile Code a delinquent is defined as a child in between
the ages of 10 and 17 years old.
What is Important to Know About
Arkansas Juvenile Justice System
*Its very important to know that when a child is going through
the court process it is very private. More so than adult cases.
They records are not subject to release under the freedom of
Information Act. Juveniles court proceedings and filings are
also closed and confidential
*Depending on the crime, Victims are allowed to be present in
a court hearing or certain court cases not unless the judge
sees the exclusion to be necessary to preserve the fairness of
a juvenile proceeding.
Arkansas Waiver Process
*There are 3 types used for waivers:
*Judicial/Discretionary
*Concurrent waiver/Direct file
*Reverse
Judicial/Discretionary Waiver
*Judge decides whether the juvenile is to be tried in juvenile or
adult court.
*If the court feels the child can no longer benefit from
treatments.
*May be requested by judge, prosecutor, parents, and/or
juvenile.
Concurrent/Direct File Waiver
*Prosecutor has the right to file the case in which ever court he
decides.
*Requirements: at least 14 years old; guilty of capital murder
in 1st degree; kidnapping; aggravated robbery; rape; 1st
degree battery; terroristic attacks.
*16 years old may be waived for any felony.
Reverse Waiver
*Reverse Waiver- sent from criminal court to juvenile court
unless they’ve been charged previously in an adult court.
*Must be in criminal court under a concurrent waiver and
meet the criteria for discretionary waiver to qualify for
reverse waiver.
Blended Sentencing
*Blended sentencing for the state of Arkansas is only in criminal
courts do they have the authority-combination of
punishments from both court systems.
*Juveniles cannot receive punishments from an adult court, if
in juvenile court.
Arkansas Juvenile Case
*The case involved two young juvenile boys: Mitchell
Johnson (13 years old) and Andrew Golden (11 years
old).
*Involved in a Westside Middle School massacre in
Jonesboro Arkansas on March 24, 1998.
*They killed four students, one teacher and wounded 10
other individuals.
The Night Prior to the Massacre and
Facts…
*On March 23, 1998, Johnson and Golden loaded Johnsons
mothers Dodge Caravan with weapons, snack foods, and
camping supplies.
*The two proceeded to drive Johnson’s mothers car to school
the next day.
*Johnson and Golden parked behind the school and Golden
went inside to pull the fire alarm.
*As the students and teachers piled out of the school the two
boys opened fire on them for a total of four minutes.
Facts cont….
*The weapons used: .30-06 rifle, .30 caliber
semiautomatic carbine and .44 caliber
handgun.
*The boys stole these guns from Golden’s
grandfather.
Arkansas Gun Laws
*In Arkansas you do not need a license/permit to buy handguns and the state law
does not restrict selling handguns to juveniles under the age of 21 by unlicensed
sellers.
*In this case, since the boys stole the gun from Golden’s grandfather, Arkansas has
no state requirement that gun owners should take responsible steps to prevent
children from gaining easy access to their firearms.
*Gun owners are not held accountable for leaving loaded guns around kids, even if
a young child shoots themselves or others.
*Although, Arkansas prohibits the possession of a firearm, concealed or
unconcealed upon the developed property of the public or private schools.
More facts on the Case…
*March 25, 1998, a petition was filed, charging Golden and Mitchell with 5 counts of capital
murder and ten counts of first-degree battery.
*Golden’s attorney tried to plead the insanity offence, but the court denied that motion.
*Johnsons attorney claimed that Johnson had been sexually abused when he was 6 and 7 years old
by a family member. All motions got denied and there was no evidence of insanity or sexual
abuse.
*Although, when Johnson was about 7 or 9 years of age, he was charged with molesting a 3 year
old girl in Minnesota, but the case was closed due to Johnson being a juvenile.
*These two juveniles were among the youngest ever charged with murder in American History.
*August 1998, they were both sentenced to confinement until they reached the age of 21, the
maximum sentence available under Arkansas law.
*They were sent by helicopter to Alexander, Arkansas, the location of the Youth Services
Division’s juvenile facility and the states most secure juvenile facility.
After Being Released…
*Johnson is now 23 years old, was recently arrested again at a local convenience
store where he was currently working. The officers came to the store to see
about a stolen credit card that was being used by another individual. After
searching him, the cops found 1.8 grams of marijuana in his pocket. They
charged him for a misdemeanor drug possession charge and theft and was
sentenced back to jail for one year and $1,000 fine.
*A few years before that he was arrested at a traffic stop in Fayetteville, Arkansas
on misdemeanor charges of carrying a weapon, a loaded 9 mm pistol and
possession charge of 21.2 grams of marijuana and he was released on a $1,000
bond.
*After Golden was released on his 21st birthday, there has been no evidence on
where he has been or what he is doing. The only evidence that the state has is
that he is going by another name, Drew Douglas Grant.
Overall
Analysis
of
the
case…
*This case examined the lives of two individuals that came from loving stable homes, with good
families, but somewhere in that mix something was wrong with the individuals.
*Could it have been that Golden was raised to be familiar with guns and their use at an early age?
And he rebelled.
*Peer Pressure?
*Johnson, a quiet individual that had an obsessive fascination with firearms and rap music, is that
why he did this?
*The world may never know….
*These boys were not mentally ready to understand their consequences at such a young age, and
these two juveniles should have received a harsher punishment because obviously for Johnson,
he is still committing crimes and not thinking about the overall consequence.
*These boys minds were not mentally capable of making wrong from right choices at the ages of
11 and 13 and they didn’t understand that they took lives away from people and hurt a lot of
friends and family members.
Arkansas Philosophy behind Judicial
Waiver
*The juvenile court judge has the ability to waive juvenile court jurisdiction and
move the case to criminal court.
*The state allows concurrent jurisdiction which allows the prosecutor to file cases
in either the juvenile system or the criminal court system.
*Arkansas oldest age to try a minor in the juvenile court is 17 years of age, while
the youngest age at which the juvenile system has jurisdiction is 10 years old,
but the juvenile system also allows juveniles to be retained by juvenile
jurisdiction until the age of 20.
*Arkansas does give the juveniles a chance to be rehabilitated in the juvenile
system until 20 years old, it does not give the juvenile a chance during the case
if the judge decides to try the juvenile in adult court.
Arkansas Judicial Waiver cont..
*Arkansas philosophy also allows transfer provisions which are laws that
made it easier to transfer juveniles to enter the criminal system without
being rehabilitated.
*The state may be allowed to place more juveniles in the criminal system,
they have made adjustments to sentencing authority to be able to allow
courts more sentencing options such as; allowing a juvenile to begin his
sentence as a juvenile and if rehabilitation does not work then they will
continue their sentence in an adult facility or place certain restrictions
on a juvenile, as long as they do not disobey those restrictions then they
are responsible for serving an adult sentence.
Arkansas Judicial Waiver cont…
*For the most part, Arkansas’ judicial waiver is determined by
the judge and allows the juvenile the chance to be
rehabilitated in the juvenile system. Even those who are not
as lucky to be tried as a juvenile, most minors under the age
of 20 have the opportunity for rehabilitation before they are
sent to the adult criminal system.
*The juveniles are benefitted by allowing them their education,
along with keeping them safe from the predators in the adult
criminal system.