Notre Dame Law Review Volume 51 | Issue 1 Article 4 10-1-1975 Constituitonal Problems of Diversion of Juvenile Delinquents Andrew W. Maron Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Andrew W. Maron, Constituitonal Problems of Diversion of Juvenile Delinquents, 51 Notre Dame L. Rev. 22 (1975). Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/vol51/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Law Review by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. CONSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS OF DIVERSION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENTS Andrew W. Maron* I. Introduction Juvenile delinquency is unquestionably one of America's serious problems. Federal, state, and local governments as well as the academic community and many private individuals have struggled with little success against rising juvenile crime. The total number of juveniles arrested in 1973 for all offenses was 1,717,366, or more than one-fourth of the total persons apprehended in the United States.' Between 1960 and 1973, the number of juveniles arrested in- creased 144 percent2 while the population of the United States increased only 16 percent.3 Since the end of the 19th century, the primary answer to the nation's juvenile delinquency problem has been the juvenile court system. This system was criticized in the 1960's for failing to provide constitutional protections to juveniles that were afforded to adults. The criticism culminated with the United States Supreme Court decisions of Kent v.