Chapter 1 (Lecture 2 & 3) Flashcards
What is the JDA?
Juvenile Delinquents Act 1908
Canada’s first juvenile delinquency legislation, in force 1908-1984, which allowed provinces to set their own maximum ages of jurisdiction
Maximum ages ranged from 15 to 17 and could be different for males and females
Under JDA jurisdiction, define Status Offences
Offences that a youth could be found guilty of simply because he or she was underage (Drinking, truancy [not showing up for school])
Under JDA jurisdiction, define Indeterminate sentences
Sentence of incarceration with no fixed expiration date (allowed under the doctrine of parens patrie)
- The idea that judges want apply the same sentence to everyone
- The judge has huge discretion in terms of penalty they apply to the youth
The JDA exerted jurisdiction over children of what ages?
7 to 15
With some variation across provinces
Under the JDA, were courts given extensive powers?
Yes, Parens Patriae
Under the JDA, how were cases handled?
They were handled summarily, without trial.
Under the JDA, if an offence was indictable, can the court decide if trial would occur in adult court?
Yes, parents or child had no say in whether a jury would be present or if a case goes to trial.
Under the JDA, what are some examples of things a court could ‘choose’?
- Impose a fine
- Foster home (Take child out of family and place them in foster care)
- Impose probationary sentence (Assigning a probationary officer to the child or serving a community sentence)
- Industrial school (Work school)
What was the goal for Probation Officers under the JDA?
They conducted investigations for the court
Assisted and directed the court
Represented the interests of the child in court
Supervised children sentenced to probation
To reform the child and to reform the family
Who was JJ Kelso?
He was a leader in the child saving movement in Ontario (1880s)
Lobbied for ‘An Act for the Protection of cruelty to, and Better Protection of Children.”
Wanted to place children under the care of the institutions (remove from their families)
Claims to have created the JDA of 1908
Who was W.L Scott?
Recognized by historians as being the one to draft the JDA
What does the Juvenile Justice System require?
- Probation officers
- Separate courts
- Separate Judges
- Separate detention facilities
What was one of the major criticism of the new system?
It was too costly
What were some of the reasons why people were concerned with the new system?
Too costly
Not punitive enough
Potential abuses of parents’ and children’s rights
Concerns that probation officers inability to properly supervise children
- Probation officers were not educated on child welfare
US influences on the JDA
The ‘child-saving’ movement
US juvenile justice reform ‘experts’ (Judge Harvey B Hurd, Judge Ben Lindsey)
The Philadelphia probation model
What were some of the other influences on the JDA? (Besides US)
The changing social and economic climate of the last half of the 19th century
- For ex. A lot of immigration from euro. countries to americas (like Canada) around 1910
The Gradual rise of the social welfare state in many countries
- Ex. Public schools rising in 1870s.
- Shortly prior to 1900s, the state became more willing to intervene in terms of socializing children.
- Mothers allowance (Money state gave to mothers to help take care of kids)
- Workers comp and old age pay
The international cross-fertilization of ideas about juvenile justice reform
Under the JDA, how were delinquents understood?
They were ‘misdirected and misguided’ children in need of ‘aid, encouragement, help and assistance’
Youth Offenders Act
Young Offenders: ‘state of dependency’ with ‘special needs’ who ‘require guidance adn assistance…. supervision, discipline and control’
Focus on youth responsibility, societal protection, legal rights and freedoms, special needs of youth, alternative measures
Limited accountability (max sentence in 1984 was 3 years, 1991 was 10 years) which was more punitive
Why was the YOA considered to be problematic?
Conflicting principles
Conservative interests - youth not being punished
Costs of correctional programs
Sensationalist media coverage of youth crime fuelled calls for change
What was the YCJA
The Youth Criminal Justice Act introduced in 2003 to replace YOA
