Chapter two of the textbook “Texas Politics” discusses the abundant state constitutions of Texas. The current constitution of Texas is quite lengthy and often ridiculed due to its outdatedness whereas when compared to that of the United States constitution, the results viewpoint and reactions are quite the opposite. Because of this, Texas, along with a great number of other states must constantly make formal changes to the constitution, this is known as a constitutional amendment. The current Texas constitution is extremely long, particularly compared to the United States constitution, this being because of the variety of policies that the constitution attempts to put on the citizens of Texas in order to maintain peace and civility.
The book uncovers the harsh reality of our juvenile system in the 1990’s. The stories in this book seem unreal, but the sad thing is that every word that was written was a true story. No Matter How Loud I Shout covers seven kids’ stories of just one year of their life in the juvenile system, a deputy district attorney who wants justice for the victims, a judge who wants to scare these kids into doing good, and a sister who wants the best for these kids and to see them succeed. The juvenile justice system is so messed up that only three of the seven were saved, one did not get punished properly due to his age, and the rest were failed by the system and ended up where they never thought they would, prison. One of the success stories was Carla James.
The role of a predisposition report writer as a juvenile probation officer in the juvenile justice system is to provide the court with a full history of the youth offender, including everything from past criminal history, education, family history, and more. The predisposition writer’s job is to interview family, friends, teachers, victims, and the youth offender to compare all information and make a formal report of the events that occurred. The report will also highlight possible treatment plans, rehabilitation, restitution, or other sanctions. The goal of the predisposition writer in the juvenile justice system is to gather the best information possible through reliable interviewee’s so that the best treatment plan can be prescribed.
In Last Chance in Texas, The author researches the treatment of juveniles that are in the Capital punishment program at the Giddings State School. Giddings is a facility in Texas that is ran aggressively and has one of the most successful, treatment programs in America for young offenders (Hubner, 2008). The juveniles in this program have committed violent crimes and were sentenced to this school for rehabilitation and the ability to reintegration back into society. Throughout the book, Hubner studied three sets of nine students of Giddings for nine months. Hubner discovered that the treatment programs worked by making the juveniles understand their past and how their actions affected other people was the key to a successful rehabilitation
There are indication that most criminals have a juvenile records in the US, indicating that crime manifests from a tender age. Therefore, to reverse the incidence of crime, it follows that the best strategy is to reduce the criminal orientation in the juvenile offenders as opposed to hardening them and preparing them for criminal careers. The case of the Crossroads Juvenile Center demonstrates the willingness of the juvenile justice systems to make these changes on the children. References Day, S. (2014). Runaway Man: A Journey Back to Hope.
Since police police officers are the first point of contact with youth, Officer Rachel Guzman takes a different look on how to handle youth by using the context of her community to assess the norm (Professor J. Peck, The Police, February 4, 2016) Instead of writing citations against youth, Officer Guzman responds to the kids at school by talking to them and building a friendship, which is the preferred method and essentially comparable to a successful day (Professor J. Peck, The Police, February 4, 2016). Probation officers are at times known to spend more time preparing for a case than interacting with youth, but on the contrary, the probation officers in this film have taken a hands-on approach to build a future for the kids they’re responsible for. Rashaad Horton, a deputy probation officer of the Los Angeles County Probation Department provides intensive supervision to 17-year-old Bernie by using interpersonal skills to assess his day and prevent Bernie from recidivating (Professor J. Peck, Juvenile Probation, February 18, 2016). While the responsibilities of a probation officer consist of a few things such as supervising youth, providing assistance, and job related tasks; Tanesha Lockhart, the deputy probation officer of Christopher has met and exceeded those responsibilities.
The federal government’s “War on Crime” by the Johnson administration in the 60s made way for tougher law enforcement and surveillance (Hinton, 2015). However, with this came the separation of children and adults in the criminal justice system; then the separation of juvenile delinquents from status offenders. As mentioned, status offenders are different from juvenile delinquents because they had broken rules which apply to only children. Meanwhile, juvenile delinquents are youths under the age of 18, who committed offenses that would be punishable to adults as well. By the late 1960s, there became a growing concern that juveniles involved in the court-based status-offense system, were not getting their best interests met (Shubik & Kendall, 2007).
Daniel Golaszewski November 11, 2015 Sleuthing the Alamo Davy Crockett's Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution Sleuthing the Alamo by James E. Crisp is a great book that I personally recommend for anyone to read especially the history fanatics. Crisp takes the readers on a adventure to uncover the truth about racism, Sam Houston, David Crockett’s death and the Texas Revolution. James Crisp focus throughout the book is to uncover the truth about the Texas Revolution and how racism was a consequence because of it. He wants to remove the myths from Texas history. Crisp really gets the readers to step into his shoes by explaining the steps he takes to examine the documents.
Not only does Berstein call for an overall reform of this nation’s juvenile prisons, she goes as far as saying the practice of locking up youth is in need of a “more profound than incremental and partial reform” (13). The fact that Bernstein outlines the numerous failed strategies and goals of this practice with her compelling use of studies and statistics is enough to promote an audience to reject the practice of locking up youth. The statistic she shares that “four out of five juvenile parolees [will be] back behind bars within three years of release” as well as the studies she conducted on numerous instances when a guards abuse of power lead to the death of a child work to further prove her point: being that “institution[s] as intrinsically destructive as the juvenile prison” have no place in a modern society (13, 83). Bernstein refutes this false sense effectiveness further by sharing her own ideas on what she believes works as a much more humane solution to rehabilitating
Annotated bibliography Childress, S. (2016, June 2). More States Consider Raising the Age for Juvenile Crime. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/more-states-consider-raising-the-age-for-juvenile-crime/ More states are considering to raising the age for juvenile crimes before being tried as adult because young offender's mental capacity. The idea is to cut the cost of incarcerate young offender in adult prison and ensure offenders to receive proper education and specialized care to change their behavior. Putting children in adult prison does not deter crime.
“Last Chance in Texas” was written by an investigative journalist John Hubner. Hubner devoted several months to an in-depth study of the Capital Offenders Program at Giddings State School. The Giddings State School in Texas supposed to house “the worst of the worst” juvenile delinquents. While conducting his research, he observed the process of three sets of nine students getting treated. These students all were placed in a group called Capital Offenders Group (COG).
I selected two cases this week to help debate the use of rehabilitation. Several case studies have shown that young homicide offenders tend to come from broken homes and violent families, have experienced parental alcoholism and child abuse, have low school achievement, and have run away from home or troubles in school. I believe cases that involve children or history of abuse may under proper screening and analysis be amenable by rehabilitation. Alex and Derek King and Lyle and Erik Menendez:
The juvenile justice system has made numerous of ethical issues when managing juvenile offenders. The issue with the juvenile justice system is the laws and rules that govern it. It has led to years of controversial debate over the ethical dilemmas of the juvenile corrections system, and how they work with youth offenders. The number of minors entering the juvenile justice system is increasing every month. The reasons why the juvenile justice system faces ethical dilemmas is important and needs to be addressed: (1) a vast proportion of juveniles are being tried and prosecuted as adults; (2) the psychological maturation of the juvenile to fully comprehend the justice system; and (3) the factors that contribute to minorities being adjudicated in the juvenile justice system are more likely than White offenders.
Within the urban communities, negative perceptions are magnified. Adolescents are more prone to be a product of their environment, especially those whose parents are incarcerated. Because of this trend adolescents are being incarcerated at an alarming rate and sentenced to adult facilities. Lambie & Randall (2013) states, the United States have imposed harsher penalties on serious young offenders, and have consequently increased rates of incarcerated youth and made it easier for youth to be treated and incarcerated as adults within the justice
(1988). Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice and Law (3rd ed.). United States of America: West Publishing Company. Wright, W. &.
