STATUTORY RHETORIC: THE REALITY BEHIND JUVENILE JUSTICE POLICIES IN
AMERICA
Linda F. Giardino
5 J.P. & Pol'y 223 (1996)
The juvenile justice system was originally created with a focus on rehabilitation. Since
the mid 1970's, states have been moving away from their rehabilitative focus toward a retributive
stance. This has come to be called the "get tough" era which extends to present day. During this
period, many jurisdictions have changed the preambles of their juvenile justice statutes to reflect
their shift in focus from the "best interests of the child" to the "best interests of the public."
Some jurisdictions have codified these conflicting statutory purposes within a single
statute while others have drafted two separate and entirely contradictory statutes. Such statutory
rhetoric does not, however, express the true policy behind our juvenile justice system. The true
purpose behind the rhetoric is apparent through an analysis of both judicial treatment of the laws
and the subsequent legislative provisions.
This Note argues that state law makers, by focusing on public fear of violent juvenile
crime, and enacting retributive goals, hurt both the public at large and the juvenile offenders.
Rehabilitative treatment is essential for juvenile offenders to decrease the odds of them becoming
adult offenders. The states play a contradictory role by serving as both prosecutor and protector
of the child. This inconsistent role and the statutory contradictions provide the state justification
to choose to dispose of juvenile offender crimes either by rehabilitation or punishment.
This Note urges that, although there is no single model juvenile justice system to emulate,
states can and need to create an effective rehabilitative juvenile justice system.