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18 J. Contemp. Crim. Just. 3 (2002)

handle is hein.journals/jccj18 and id is 1 raw text is: EDITORIAL COMMENT Before the 19th century ended, a separate system for juveniles was created and the first juvenile court in the world was founded in Cook County, Illinois. The court was a model forged in the philosophy that the primary goal of state intervention was to rehabilitate young offenders. This juvenile court was embraced and emulated throughout the nation and the world. Because a sepa- rate court for young people had been created in 1899, juveniles who broke the law were brought before the juvenile court. In rare cases, judges decided which youth were so violent or such chronic offenders that they were not amenable to treatment in the juvenile court. In such cases the jurisdiction of the juvenile court was waived and the youth were transferred to adult crimi- nal court. Some states had legislation that automatically excluded youth charged with the most serious offenses, notably murder, from juvenile court jurisdiction. Since 1899, juvenile courts in the United States have undergone consider- able changes. These changes have transformed the original juvenile court into something closely resembling the adult court. The volume and the type of cases that go through the juvenile court present new challenges in the new millennium. Several hundred thousand youth chum through the nation's detention facilities each year-youth who have been arrested but not con- victed of any charges. The new millennium presents new challenges for the juvenile justice sys- tem. These are the times when there is a public outcry for get tough and zero tolerance policies with regard to even minor juvenile infractions. Dur- ing the past 10 years, nearly every state has changed its laws to make it easier to prosecute juveniles as adults. Recently, however, states throughout the country have passed a variety of measures to send more youth to criminal court. These measures include any or a combination of the following: lower- ing the age at which juveniles can be prosecuted as adults, greatly expanding the categories of crimes for which youth are automatically prosecuted in criminal court, giving prosecutors the exclusive authority to decide which juveniles are charged as adults, and limiting the discretion of judges to over- turn decisions by prosecutors and law enforcement officials. The present issue of the journal comes at a time when more solid research and information is needed for an understanding of the juvenile system. This issue contains five articles. Each article, in its own way, contributes to the understanding ofjuvenile justice in the new millennium. For example, Daniel P. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Vol. 18 No. 1, February 2002 3-5 D 2002 Sage Publications 3

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