y believed to have been the youngest person ever charged with attempted murder in the United States had the charges reduced to assault with intent to injure in Martinez, California. The boy accused of the brutal beating of a month-old infant during the burglary of a neighbor’s apartment (Curtius A3-A23). The court considered him too young to help in his own defense, and a psychiatric evaluation ruled him unable to understand the consequences of his acts. Charles Patrick Ewing (1990) writes, “the stakes are high when a court decides whether a juvenile murder defendant will be tried as a juvenile or as and adult. Generally a youth tried in juvenile court faces a rather limited punishment if found guilty” (p. 151). Judge Justine Wise Polier (1989), a veteran of the juvenile justice system in America, observes, “Born of generous impulses, justice for youth was flawed from the outset” (159). Prior to 1899, young criminals were divided into two classes under the law. Children below the age of 7 could not be tried at all, since the law considered them incapable of criminal thoughts or activities. Between the ages of 7 and 14, the law believed that children could differentiate between right and wrong and could therefore be tried for certain criminal behaviors at the discretion of the courts. Children legally became adults at age 14 and could then be treated as adults. Consequently, the laws that are to be voted on presently can break-up the juvenile justice system, which was established in Chicago in 1899 (Lacayo 28). Until 1967, when the Supreme Court ruled on a particularly outrageous case, juvenile courts did not routinely follow due process. Children could be arrested, tried, and convicted without being allowed time or resources to mount a proper defense, confront accusers, examine evidence, or support themselves of the other protections allowed in an adult court. The Juvenile Justice and Del...
