In this course, we examine the history, development, and organization of the U.S. juvenile justice system. Topics include the organization, functions, and jurisdiction of juvenile agencies; juvenile law; the processing and detention of juveniles; juvenile dispositions, statutes, and court procedures; and the constitutional protections extended to juveniles. Our exams test your recall of those subjects. This study guide is here to help you to focus your studies.

• Midterm exam (16-week course only) – up to 50 questions, covering chapters 1-8 of our textbook in 90 minutes

• Final exam – up to 50 questions, covering our entire textbook in 90 minutes

Our exams are timed, open notes (open book for online courses), and structured much like our chapter quizzes, offering issue spotting scenarios, multiple choice(s), matching and/or true/false questions.

Use the SQSTR Method to actively seek information as you explore course materials, taking notes that summarize, organize, and centralize important information:

1. Survey: First, skim each assigned reading, paying special attention to chapter objectives and summaries, and any information that is highlighted or called out, e.g., charts and tables.

2. Question: Create questions about the content of the reading, such as: What are its key points? What will I be expected to learn from these materials?

3. Seek: Actively read the materials, seeking answers to the questions you formulated in Step 2, along with an overall understanding. Immediately consult a dictionary for any unfamiliar terms.

4. Teach: Upon completing a reading, write a summary that explains it in simple terms, as if you were teaching it to a student who is new to this topic.

5. Review your notes regularly: Quiz yourself on the questions you created, plus any publisher-provided questions. If you have study partners, quiz each other.

Our exams typically include the following:

• Vocabulary, including legal/professional terms, Latin

• The Bill of Rights, including its history and development, and incorporation, with focus upon the application of the following amendments to criminal justice: 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th Amendments

• Scenarios that require you to apply statutory and/or case law rules to fact patterns. List each case we have covered with its rule, so that you can quickly locate it and apply its rule to scenario questions.

• Questions relating to our Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Describe the history and organization of the juvenile justice system

  2. Compare and contrast the differences between the adult and juvenile justice system

  3. Understand the protections afforded to juveniles

• Questions relating to our Course Objectives

  1. Examine the development of the U.S. juvenile justice system from its inception to the present

  2. Analyze and describe the juvenile justice system and its context in the criminal justice system

  3. Categorize current juvenile problems and explain the juvenile justice system response to each

  4. Distinguish among delinquency, status offenses, and dependency and relate these to California laws

  5. Compare and contrast the organization and jurisdiction of local, state, and federal juvenile justice system entities

  6. Analyze the distinctions between the adult and juvenile justice systems

  7. Explain how juvenile offenders are processed through the juvenile justice system

  8. Explain how specific laws and Constitutional protections regulate the investigation, arrest, detention, and disposition of juvenile offenders and victims.

• Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County et al. v. Earls et al., 536 U.S. 822 (2002)

• Breed v. Jones, 421 U.S. 519 (1975)

• City of Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41 (1999)

• Commonwealth v. Fisher, 213 Pa. 48, 62 A. 198 (1905)

• Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104 (1982)

• Ex parte Crouse, 4 Whart. 9 (Pa. 1838)

• In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967)

• In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (1970)

• J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 564 U.S. 261 (2011)

• Jones v. Mississippi, 593 U.S. ___ (2021)

• Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541 (1966)

• Martarella v. Kelley, 349 F. Supp. 575 (S.D.N.Y. 1972)

• McKeiver v. Pennsylvania, 403 U.S. 528 (1971)

• Morales v. Turman, 364 F. Supp. 166 (E.D. Tex. 1973)

• Nelson v. Heyne, 491 F.2d 352 (7th Cir. 1974)

• Oklahoma Publishing Company v. District Court in and for Oklahoma City, 430 U.S. 308 (1977)

• People ex rel. O’Connell v. Turner, 55 Ill. 280, 8 Am. Rep. 645 (1870)

• People v. Green, 155 Mich. 524, 532, 119 N.W. 1087 (1909)

• Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944)

• Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005)

• Santana v. Collazo, 714 F.2d 1172 (1st Cir. 1983)

• Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745 (1982)

• Schall v. Martin, 467 U.S. 253 (1984)

• Schleifer v. City of Charlottesville, 159 F.3d 843 (4th Cir. 1998)

• Shioutakon v. District of Columbia, 236 F.2d 666 (1956)

• Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Company, 443 U.S. 97 (1979)

• Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361 (1989)

• Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815 (1988)

• Worthen v. State, 42 Md. App. 20, 399 A.2d 272 (1979)