posted by admin on Nov 20
Criminal lawyers are ready and available to assist you and your child through the Juvenile Justice System. The processing of juvenile offenders is somewhat similar to adult criminal processing, but there are crucial differences. This is why it is important to retain a lawyer with specific experience in juvenile law.
Juvenile courts usually have jurisdiction over matters concerning children, including delinquency, neglect, and adoption. They also handle “status offenses” such as truancy and running away, which are not applicable to adults. State statutes define which persons are under the original jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction in delinquency matters is 17 in most states.
Many juveniles are referred to juvenile courts by law enforcement officers, but many others are referred by school officials, social services agencies, neighbors, and even parents, for behavior or conditions that are determined to require intervention by the formal system for social control.
At the arrest, a decision is made either to send the matter further into the justice system or to divert the case out of the system, often to alternative programs. Examples of alternative programs include drug treatment, individual or group counseling, or referral to educational and recreational programs.
When juveniles are referred to the juvenile courts, the court’s intake department or the prosecuting attorney determines whether sufficient grounds exist to warrant filing a petition that requests an adjudicatory hearing or a request to transfer jurisdiction to an adult criminal court. At this point, many juveniles are released or diverted to alternative programs.
All states allow juveniles to be tried as adults in criminal court under certain circumstances. In many states, the legislature statutorily excludes certain (usually serious) offenses from the jurisdiction of the juvenile court regardless of the age of the accused. In some states and at the federal level under certain circumstances, prosecutors have the discretion to either file criminal charges against the juvenile directly in adult criminal courts or proceed through the juvenile justice process. The juvenile court’s intake department or the prosecutor may petition the juvenile court to waive jurisdiction to adult criminal court, or the juvenile court may order referral to criminal court for trial as adults. In some jurisdictions, juveniles processed as adults may upon conviction be sentenced to either an adult or a juvenile facility.
In those cases where the juvenile court retains jurisdiction, the case may be handled formally by filing a delinquency petition or informally by diverting the juvenile to other agencies or programs in lieu of further court processing.
If a petition for an adjudicatory hearing is accepted, the juvenile may be brought before a court that is quite a bit different than the court with jurisdiction over adult offenders. Despite the considerable discretion associated with juvenile court proceedings, juveniles are afforded many of the due-process safeguards associated with adult criminal trials. Several states permit the use of juries in juvenile courts. However, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court holding that juries are not essential to juvenile hearings, most states do not.
In disposing of cases, juvenile courts usually have far more discretion than adult courts. In addition to such options as probation, commitment to a residential facility, restitution, or fines, state laws grant juvenile courts the power to order removal of children from their homes to foster homes or treatment facilities. Juvenile courts also may order participation in special programs aimed at shoplifting prevention, drug counseling, or driver education.
Once a juvenile is under juvenile court disposition, the court may retain jurisdiction until the juvenile legally becomes an adult (at age 21in most states). In some jurisdictions, juvenile offenders may be classified as youthful offenders which can lead to extended sentences.
Following release from an institution, juveniles are often ordered to a period of aftercare which is similar to parole supervision for adult offenders. Juvenile offenders who violate the conditions of aftercare may have their aftercare revoked, resulting in being recommitted to a facility. Juveniles who are classified as youthful offenders and violate the conditions of aftercare may be subject to adult sanctions.
posted by admin on Nov 20
The U.S. Drug Abuse Regulation and Control Act of 1970 (Controlled Substances Act) is designed to limit and control access to intoxicating drugs and to control certain other drugs of abuse, such as anabolic steroids used by athletes to increase muscle mass. It is a law over and above the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Durham-Humphrey laws that designate drugs as prescription only or over the counter and freely available to the public. Thus, a prescription drug may or may not also be a controlled substance.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decides which drugs are prescription, while the DEA decides which drugs are controlled substances. In 1970, Controlled Substances Act replaced the Harrison Narcotic Act, which preceded it. The newer act allows for finer control of drugs of abuse, since it uses 5 categories instead of 3. Along with the Controlled Substances Act were harsher prison sentences, new DEA registration numbers for all prescribers or drug handlers, and other additions that are beyond the scope of this document.
Most states have passed laws that mirror the Controlled Substances Act, although from state to state there are differences and peculiarities. As a rule, a state can add restrictions to the federal Act, but almost never reverses or reduces them. Pharmacies and doctors must conform to all applicable laws within their jurisdiction.
posted by admin on Nov 20
Federal controls over the drug supply began with inspection of imported drugs in 1848. Modern drugs and narcotics law encompass federal, state and international laws to interdict and eradicate the use, cultivation, processing and transportation of illicit drugs.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is the lead Federal agency in enforcing narcotics and controlled substance laws and regulations. The Administration maintains liaison with the United Nations, INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization - ICPO), and other organizations on matters relating to international narcotics control programs. It has offices throughout the United States and in 50 foreign countries.
The first national drug law was the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which required accurate labeling of patent medicines containing opium and certain other drugs. In 1914 the Harrison Narcotic Act forbade sale of substantial doses of opiates or cocaine except by licensed doctors and pharmacies. Later, heroin was totally banned. Subsequent Supreme Court decisions made it illegal for doctors to prescribe any narcotic to addicts; many doctors who prescribed maintenance doses as part of an addiction treatment plan were jailed, and soon all attempts at treatment were abandoned.
Throughout the years, the public’s perception of the dangers of specific substances changed. The surgeon general’s warning label on tobacco packaging gradually made people aware of the addictive nature of nicotine. By 1995, the Food and Drug Administration was considering its regulation. The recognition of fetal alcohol syndrome brought warning labels to alcohol products. The addictive nature of prescription drugs such as diazepam (Valium) became known, and caffeine came under scrutiny as well.
Drugs and Narcotics laws have tried to keep up with the changing perceptions and real dangers of substance abuse. By 1970 over 55 federal drug laws and countless state laws specified a variety of punitive measures, including life imprisonment and even the death penalty. To clarify the situation, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 repealed, replaced, or updated all previous federal laws concerned with narcotics and all other dangerous drugs.
posted by admin on Nov 20
Domestic violence, also known as partner abuse, spouse abuse, or battering, occurs when one person uses force to inflict injury, either emotional or physical, upon another person they have, or had, a relationship with. It occurs between spouses and partners, parents and children, children and grandparents, and brothers and sisters. Victims can any age, race, or gender.
Domestic violence is the single largest cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the United States, more than muggings, car accidents, and rapes combined. Each year between 2 million and 4 million women are battered, and 2,000 of these battered women will die of their injuries. Violence against men by women is also a problem, according to the August 2000 Annals of Emergency Medicine. In a study of an inner city hospital, men reported slightly more physical violence than women (20 percent of men and 19 percent of women), although women reported significantly more past and present nonphysical violence than men.
Criminal lawyers are ready and available to assist you and your child through the Juvenile Justice System. The processing of juvenile offenders is somewhat similar to adult criminal processing, but there are crucial differences. This is why it is important to retain a lawyer with specific experience in juvenile law.
