By: DESTANEE ROCHA-GARCIA
Staff Writer
Since the establishment of the first juvenile court in Cook County, Illinois in 1899, states have recognized that children who commit crimes are different from adults, as a class, they are less blameworthy, and they have a greater capacity for change. The juvenile justice system has grown and changed substantially since 1899. Rather than confine young people in jails with adults, the early juvenile courts created a probation system and separate rehabilitation and treatment facilities to provide minors with supervision, guidance, and education. The U.S. Supreme Court determined that the Constitution requires that youth charged with delinquency in juvenile court have many of the same due process rights guaranteed to adults accused of crimes, including the right to an attorney and the right to confront witnesses against them. In 1971, the Supreme Court ruled that youth was not entitled to jury trials court, but several states have judicially or legislatively elected to provide youth a right to a jury trial.