U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention John J. Wilson, Acting Administrator May 2000 Second Chances: From the Administrator The juvenile justice system is Giving Kids a Chance founded on the idea that youth are different from adults. Based on the concept of parens patriae—the State To Make a Better Choice as parent—juvenile courts were established to provide youth a chance to make a better choice than delinquency. More than simply providing another chance, juvenile In commemoration of the juvenile court’s Introduction justice professionals work to enable centennial, the Justice Policy Institute of the youth to make the kinds of decisions Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice They are prosecutors, politicians, poets, and probation officers; academics, attor- that will ensure a better future for and the Children and Family Justice Center themselves and their communities. of Northwestern University School of Law neys, athletes, and authors; students, profiled 25 individuals who were petitioned stockbrokers, and salespeople; football As in any human endeavor, the into juvenile court as serious delinquents players and firefighters. They have rehabilitation of juvenile offenders when they were young and then turned worked at the highest levels of govern- has its successes and failures. The their lives around and made something of ments, as advisors to Presidents, and in successes, however, are more themselves. The book Second Chances— the U.S. Senate. They have prosecuted, frequent than commonly believed and 100 Years of the Children’s Court: Giving defended, and judged their fellow men can be remarkable in their scope, as Kids A Chance To Make A Better Choice and women. They have achieved unprec- this Bulletin illustrates. Drawing on is a result of that work. edented feats on the field of athletic com- Second Chances—100 Years of the petition. They have served their country Children’s Court: Giving Kids a Research shows that the vast majority of honorably in the military. Chance To Make a Better Choice, the males break the law at some point during Yet when they were kids, every one of Bulletin profiles successful “gradu- their youth and that the vast majority stop ates” of the juvenile justice system. doing so as they mature (Elliott et al., them was in trouble with the law. But for 1983). Thus, the Second Chances project the protections and rehabilitative focus of The narratives highlight fundamental staff expected to be able to identify a large the juvenile court—a uniquely American principles of the juvenile court that number of former delinquents who made invention that was the brainchild of a helped these youth prosper in good. Even at that, the 25 stories told in group of Chicago women activists a cen- adulthood: protection from stigmati- Second Chances are surprising in their tury ago—many of them would simply not zation, rehabilitation, and individual- scope—an indication that many young be where they are today. And most of ized attention. The profiled individuals people adjudicated delinquent need not them would be the first to admit it. credit the second chance provided by lose hope of living successful lives. The America’s juvenile court is celebrating its the juvenile justice system with 12 randomly chosen profiles republished 100th anniversary. In 1882, John Altgeld, helping them to turn their lives in this Bulletin are inspiring examples of an aspiring Chicago lawyer who would around. Capitalizing on that opportu- individuals whose lives reflect the juvenile later become Governor of Illinois, toured nity, each, in turn, has helped others court’s purpose and achievements. the House of Corrections in Chicago and through positive contributions to discovered that hundreds of children, in- society. cluding children as young as 8 years of John J. Wilson age, were jailed alongside adults. Ap- Acting Administrator palled by the tragic circumstances of these children, Chicago reformers Jane watchful eyes of trained and sensitive Individualized attention. Perhaps most Addams, Lucy Flower, and Julia Lathrop judges and probation officers in a juris- important, the juvenile justice system is encouraged State lawmakers to create a diction that was premised on rehabilita- likely to bring troubled youth in contact separate justice system for children. Be- tion rather than merely punishment, with individuals who are committed to fore women could vote and while segrega- minimized future stigma, and separated helping rather than simply punishing. Pro- tion was still the law of the land, these juveniles from adults in confinement. In file subjects Terry Ray, Carolyn Gibbered, efforts led to the creation of the first juve- the juvenile justice system, court pro- Sally Henderson, and Andre Dawkins all nile court in the world, which opened its ceedings were informal, nonadversarial, emphasized that people—real people doors on July 3, 1899, on Chicago’s West and private; the language of adult crimi- whose names they could recall—were Side. The new court was one part of a nal court was modified; and a goal was to there for them again and again when they comprehensive series of century-shaping protect children from long-term damage needed a helping hand. The attention and reforms affecting children, inspired by the to their future prospects. expectations of these individuals made all work of Jane Addams and her associates the difference. The juvenile court is a far from perfect at the Hull House social settlement. These reforms included compulsory education institution, but its core tenets—protec- Another chance. Finally, several lives re- tion from stigmatizing consequences, counted in Second Chances speak to the laws for children, abolition of child labor, and development of playgrounds and rehabilitation, individualized attention, importance of simply giving kids repeated a second chance for kids, and separation chances to turn their lives around and parks as recreational spaces. of children from adults in jails and room to grow up, sometimes on their The reformers’ ideas spread like wildfire, lockups—are as vital now as they have own. Olympic Gold Medallist Bob Beacon, leading to the rapid development of juve- ever been. The themes that recur in the poet Luis Rodriguez, professor and Juve- nile courts in 46 States and the District of stories of the 25 Second Chance profile nile Probation Commission President Joe Columbia by 1925. As America pioneered subjects illustrate the importance of Julian, and Columbia University Law Re- the jurisprudence of a more humane ap- these tenets. view editor Lawrence Wu were all gang proach to youth crime, many other coun- members who had multiple contacts with tries established separate court systems Protection from stigmatization. Fire Cap- law enforcement before they changed di- tain James N. Short, who once broke his for children.1 Today, every State has a dis- rection. For some, their turnabouts came tinct court or jurisdiction for dependent, neck in the line of duty, was nearly denied as a result of introspection rather than a promotion because of his youthful ar- neglected, or delinquent children, as do system-structured rehabilitation. Still, the most nations throughout the world. rests. District Attorney Terence Hallinan juvenile court system allowed them nu- had to appeal to the California Supreme merous opportunities to succeed, without Addams and the other Chicago reformers Court before he could be admitted to closing doors to potential future helped to redefine “childhood,” creating a practice law. Judge Walton, Senator accomplishments. new vision of a unique, sacred period in Simpson, Terry Ray, Lawrence Wu, and human life, a period during which chil- Brian Silverman are all attorneys who In sum, all 25 profiles are living, breathing dren and adolescents require the nurtur- might have been denied admission to the testaments to the resiliency of the vision ance and guidance of responsible adults. bar had their juvenile offenses carried the of the women whose reform efforts led to No longer were children viewed as “mini- same weight as adult convictions. Like the founding of the juvenile court. They adults”; they were instead recognized as these individuals, all those profiled ben- are also a ringing affirmation of the need people qualitatively and developmentally efited, some profoundly, from protections for a court system premised on the recog- different from adults. These differences that allowed youth to put their past be- nition that children are different from were seen as making children more ame- hind them and move on.2 Society, too, has adults, a court system that gives young nable to intervention and recovery than benefited, as these individuals developed people a chance to make a better choice. their elders and at least potentially less into productive citizens instead of adult The 12 profiles that follow, which are re- culpable for the consequences of their criminals who would have contributed to printed from Second Chances, serve to actions. public fear and remained a drain on fiscal illustrate the major themes of these stories. and human resources. These reformers believed that, in a civi- lized society, the State has a moral re- Rehabilitation. The juvenile justice sys- sponsibility to act as a “kind and just par- tem still largely promotes the concept ent” to all children in need of protection that kids should be helped to turn their and sanctioning, and they reinvigorated lives around. Several of the individuals the concept of parens patriae to govern profiled—Kansas City Chiefs’ linebacker such cases. In the context of a court sys- Derrick Thomas, premed student Jeremy tem, this meant that children would re- Estrada, former Presidential Honor Guard ceive individualized attention under the member Scott Filippi, author Claude Brown, and students Brandon Maxwell and Jason Smith—credit rigorous reha- 1 The following countries established separate juvenile bilitative programs for opening a path court systems during this period: Great Britain and toward a better life.