The goal of the Juvenile Court system is to put unruly minors on to the right track by connecting them with the tools they need. The system has a multitude of programs in place to provide treatment and rehabilitation so offenders have the adequate resources to avoid incarceration and become successful adults.
“I have seen a 12-year-old in handcuffs, and they are tiny,” said Sarah Martin, a juvenile public defender for Fulton County. “Sometimes their feet don’t even reach the floor and their ankles are shackled. That’s just heartbreaking.”
An issue that has presented itself is that some of the probation officers and service providers are not as dedicated to the wellbeing of the kids as they could be, Martin said. Also, minors have no say in choosing their therapist if a judge recommends them to see one, and the counselors they talk to are not always top-notch. In addition, some of the prosecutors and judges that see these minors in the courtroom aren’t focused on the underlying issues as to why the minors are acting out, Martin added.
“I know that there are other prosecutors, and I don’t know what is wrong with them, maybe they are power hungry or just think that kids are pests, but they focus more on punishment,” said Martin.
It’s crucial for the system to work if accused minors want the opportunity to have better lives. The system, if utilized in the right way, can serve as a platform for rehabilitation.
“The system can work, I have seen it work, but I have also seen it fail miserably,” said Martin. “Sometimes these kids are literally given a workbook and that’s not going to be very effective especially if you have a kid that is struggling academically.”
The hope is that if someone like Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexually assaulting more than one woman in his younger years, had been through the juvenile justice system, he would have made the mistake only once. Instead, he allegedly made the mistake multiple times, and his past caught up with him during his confirmation.
Offenses committed by young adults don’t necessarily follow them for the rest of their lives, but they can. A juvenile’s history cannot be accessed by the public; even the proceedings are closed door. Major felonies, like sexual assault, are an example of an exception, where the case of a minor could be pushed to be processed in adult court.
“By the time we are in high school we are supposed to be responsible to drive, apply to college, choose a major, and take AP classes, so we should be held responsible for what we do,” said sophomore Emma Uppelschoten. “Especially if it is something as severe as the Kavanaugh situation. Even if it happened all the way back in high school, it is still something he did with a conscious choice, and it should follow him as long as he lives.”
Sophomore Michelle Durst argued that Kavanaugh, although young, should have been mature enough to understand that what he was doing was wrong.
The juvenile justice system is meant to keep things like Kavanaugh’s situation from happening, but Kavanaugh would have never had a workbook put in front of him. The Brett Kavanaugh’s of the world are not the people who are going to be brought into the juvenile justice system because the population of kids who are brought in is largely black and indigent.
“I’m 34 and I have been assaulted more than one time and in varying degrees, and I didn’t say anything,” an anonymous source said. “One of the guys is a self-proclaimed feminist, and if I were to say something about it in the future, he would have 65 women to write letters on his behalf. It doesn’t mean that he didn’t do to me what he did.”
Had Kavanaugh admitted to sexually assaulting Dr. Ford, his professional reputation would have been shot. He is more interested in the title of Supreme Court Justice than doing the right thing.
People get older, grow, and mature, but the basis of who people are doesn’t change. Actions people take in high school influence the way they think for the rest of their life. This could be something as small as thanking your parents for taking you out to dinner, proving you appreciate the small things in life or it could be something as big as sexual assault, showing that your moral senses are not in tune with society.
Citizens all over the country are enraged because a man who doesn’t understand how to distinguish right from wrong is now going to be making some of the most important decisions for our country.
“For Kavanaugh, his past actions should absolutely be affecting him today,” Martin said. “Even for a man willing to face his mistake, he still shouldn’t be a Supreme Court Justice.”