Time trip - history of juvenile justice system

* In Colonial times, courts treated children as harshly as adults. In 1648, Massachusetts prescribed the death penalty for any child over 16 who "shall curse, or smile their natural father or mother."

* In 1825, the New York Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents opened the House of Refuge, the nation's first reformatory. Although it aimed to reform delinquents through prayer, work, and study, the facility's staff punished juveniles with whippings and leg irons. In the drawing above, a 6-year-old boy sentenced to the reformatory begs a whip-bearing warden for mercy.

* In 1899, the nation's first juvenile court for youths under the age of 16 was established in Chicago. The goal of the court was not to punish youthful offenders but to, help rehabilitate them. By 1925, juvenile courts had been established in all but two states.

* Many juvenile courts were conducted informally. Judges would have discussions with offending children, then decide on a form of rehabilitation for them. The lack of established rules often led to unfair treatment. In 1964, for example, 15-year-old Gerry Gault was sentenced to six years in a state reform school for making an obscene phone call to his neighbor. Gerry, who said a friend had made the call, had no lawyer present. In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Gerry's constitutional rights had been violated and that he hadn't received a fair trial. As a result of the case, the juvenile justice system was overhauled to afford children many of the same rights that adults have in court.

* In the 1980s, violent juvenile crime increased. The public mood became increasingly punitive, leading many states to pass tougher laws in hopes of deterring juvenile crime. Currently, all states have provisions for trying juveniles as adults in criminal court.

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