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Few things are more stressful for a parent than receiving a call from the police explaining that your child, still a minor, has been arrested. They’re now facing juvenile delinquency charges, and it’s up to you, along with the help of a defense attorney, to protect their future. This guide covers the essentials of New York’s juvenile delinquency system, including:
Juvenile delinquency occurs in New York when a child who is under the age of 18 commits an act that, if committed by an adult, would be a crime. Technically, this means that the act is not a crime if the child is still a juvenile.
There are certain exceptions for very serious cases, usually severe violent offenses, in which the child can be tried as an adult. However, New York has tried to limit such exceptions whenever possible, so there are only a few very serious offenses that are still considered a crime when committed by a juvenile.
Juvenile delinquency cases are heard in family court in New York, as opposed to criminal court or Supreme Court for adults. In family court, there are no juries; cases are heard and decided by a judge.
In New York, Juvenile cases are confidential. While the court is technically open to the public, since family court deals with sensitive matters, in most cases, the courtroom will only be open to family members or people involved in the case. The court will accept members of the public on a case-by-case basis if there is a good reason for them to be in the courtroom.
Technically, in juvenile delinquency cases, the New York Corporation Counsel, also known as the New York Law Department, files a petition against the accused juvenile. The juvenile is then considered a respondent to the case. The petition describes whatever act the juvenile is accused of committing and what parts of the New York penal law those acts allegedly violate.
The juvenile would then usually be assigned a lawyer, called an attorney for the child. However, they can also retain their own lawyer, or their parents can retain a better qualified or more experienced lawyer for them.
The first thing that a judge has to decide in a juvenile case is whether the juvenile offender will be remanded or not. Remanding means being removed from their home and put in a juvenile detention center during the trial. It is the equivalent of being placed in jail under police custody for adults.
The judge will try to avoid taking your child out of your home unless they are deemed to be at risk of re-offending, a risk to the public, or if you refuse to take them back into your home. As a result, in most cases, they will be released to your care.
If they are not released and are remanded, they will be put in a detention center. This can either be a non-secure detention center without bars, locks, or other security measures or, if they are accused of a more serious crime, it could be a secure detention center where the juvenile is not permitted to leave.
Unlike adult criminal court, there’s no such thing as bail in family court for juveniles. There is no posting of a bond that would permit the juvenile to leave.
In most cases, your child will be allowed to stay with you. But if detention is ordered, you will not be able to post bail to have them leave detention. It is entirely up to the judge to decide when and if they leave detention and go back to their family.
The standard of proof for juvenile cases is the same as for adult criminal cases.
If the judge finds that the city has proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, then the judge has to decide what will happen to your child. They could be given conditional leave, probation, or remanded. A judge can even order no consequences at all if they do not believe that any supervision or placement of the child is warranted.
If a judge believes the child should be released but only under certain conditions, they will rule for an ACD, which stands for Adjournment Contemplating Dismissal. That gives the juvenile a set of conditions they must comply with for a specific period of time, normally six months. If they comply with those conditions, the case is dismissed and sealed at the end of the time period.
The court can also opt for a conditional discharge for 12 months. These will have similar conditions that the juvenile has to comply with for the case to be dismissed at the end of the conditional discharge.
If the case is more serious, the judge might decide on a probation period of up to two years. Probation also has a set of conditions that the juvenile has to comply with. In addition, the juvenile is assigned a probation officer with whom they have to meet, typically once a month.
In either of the above cases, if the juvenile violates the conditions, the New York City Law Department can file a violation, and the case will be brought back to court, where a new disposition can be ordered. The most serious of which is a remand.
Being remanded is the equivalent of being locked up in jail for adults. A juvenile can be remanded to a facility for juveniles for up to eighteen months in most cases or for up to three years for the most serious felonies. This period can be extended beyond the original duration, or it can also be ended early if the juvenile is doing very well.
Attorney Jeffrey Johnson is a compassionate Staten Island lawyer who has helped countless young clients and their parents navigate the family court and juvenile delinquency system in New York. As a member of the Family Court Assigned Counsel Panel and the Family Court Attorney for the Child Panel, his advice and guidance are based on extensive experience.
Has your child been arrested? Are you up for an audience in Family Court for a Juvenile offense?
Contact Jeffrey Johnson right away to schedule a consultation.
There are several crucial differences between juvenile court proceedings and adult criminal court proceedings:
The juvenile system is not considered a punitive system, so the objective is not to punish the child. The goal is to rehabilitate the child if possible and protect the community if necessary.
The penalties for Juvenile charges are also much shorter. The maximum penalty, even for a designated felony case, is up to three years. While that placement can be extended after the period of supervision or the period of remand, the court will try its best to avoid keeping juveniles in detention.
They will always try to return your child to your family and offer services to rehabilitate them and try to make sure that they do not offend again or end up in the adult justice system later.
There is one set of laws for Juvenile cases for the whole state of New York, so there are no real differences, in theory, in how Juvenile cases are handled. However, there is one difference in practice.
On Staten Island, there are far fewer juvenile cases, so there is less of a backlog in family court there than in other boroughs, which are more populated. On the other hand, Staten Island also has fewer resources, so there are often longer waiting periods to get into programs or facilities than in the more populated boroughs.
I consider my juvenile clients the same as my adult clients and advocate for them zealously. I always try to get the best outcome possible.
Since family court is not open to the public, it is easier to preserve the confidentiality of a Juvenile client and their family. It is also more important to do so, as these cases will also be sealed from the public at the end of the case. This means that if the entire case is kept private, there will be no publicly available record of your child’s acts later.
However, it is also important to remember that juvenile clients are not adults. The standard of representation is not just to look for what is in the best interest of them as a client but to advocate for what they want, as well as what the parents want.
For more information on Navigating Juvenile Delinquency In New York, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (718) 557-9767 today.
Attorney Jeffrey Johnson is a compassionate Staten Island lawyer who has helped countless young clients and their parents navigate the family court and juvenile delinquency system in New York. As a member of the Family Court Assigned Counsel Panel and the Family Court Attorney for the Child Panel, his advice and guidance are based on extensive experience.
Has your child been arrested? Are you up for an audience in Family Court for a Juvenile offense?
Contact Jeffrey Johnson right away to schedule a consultation.
