Juvenile Rights at Time of Arrest - Essay Example

Juvenile rights at the time of arrest: Introduction: Juvenile rights at the time of arrest were not identified or respected like adults’ rights wereuntil 1967, when Gerald Francis Gault, a 15 year old juvenile was accused of having made an indecent phone call to a neighbor of his (Kita, 2010). Without much investigation, he was imprisoned until he turned 21. This can be attributed to the fact that the laws and rules were not very favorable for juveniles and their rights were subdued. However, a lot of legal agencies made a lot of effort to rescue the innocent imprisoned child.

Finally, the United States Supreme Court decided to equalize the rights of juveniles and adults under the 14th amendment (Kita, 2010). Particularly, juvenile’s rights to meet witnesses and counsel were recognized. Comparison of juvenile and adults’ arrest rights: The police officers are allowed to arrest juvenile offenders temporarily so as to carry out investigations and impose due charges on them. Arrest laws are as applicable on the juveniles as they are on adults. Juveniles that have left their parents’ home without their guardians’ consent and others that are endangered by the surroundings in any way may also be arrested through the Court’s order.

However, certain requirements need to be met while arresting the juveniles (Anne Arundel County, 2010, p. 1). Juveniles are to be granted all Constitutional rights that are conventionally meant for adults. The precautions and safety measures laid out for adult prisoner transportation are equally applicable on the juvenile prisoners. The parents of juvenile offender are supposed to be immediately notified of their child’s arrest. If they can not somehow be reached, then the arresting officer needs to inform the Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) (Anne Arundel County, 2010, p. 1). There are also time limits in detention for juvenile offenders.

No juvenile is supposed to be held any more than 6 hrs. In case, the detention time exceeds 6 hrs, the DJS again needs to be notified of that. This is where juvenile offenders are considerably leveraged as compared to the adult offenders. Juvenile offender treatment in light of social justice: Analysis of the juvenile imprisonment laws in many advanced countries in the contemporary age suggests that unlike past, juveniles are indeed, significantly leveraged as compared to adults. Children are offered the same rights as adults are given, and sometimes even more.

This actually accords with the psychological maturity of a child. A child may have committed an offence, but he/she is psychologically immature and needs care. In fact, proper care and treatment may cause a child to abandon his/her evil practices as he/she is in the age of learning and self-actualization. It is also, one of the most fundamental requirements of the social justice that every individual should be treated as per his/her age. Their psychological immaturity may cause the juvenile offenders to display such behavior towards the fellow prisoners and the policemen that may aggravate the situation further.

Therefore, certain degree of care and consideration is vital for appropriate treatment of a juvenile offender. References: Anne Arundel County Police Department Written Directive. (2010). Arrest & custody of juveniles. pp. 1-4. Retrieved from http://www.aacounty.org/Police/RulesRegs/Sections17-19/1702JuvArrestCust.pdf. Kita, G. (2010). What are your child’s rights? Retrieved from http://www.topjuveniledefender.com/juvenile_rights.html.