ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the evolution of the juvenile system and the various ways in which juveniles receive different or similar treatment to adult offenders. During the 1600s and 1700s, most juvenile offenders in England who were incarcerated served their time with adult convicts; some facilities segregated juvenile offenders from adults. The first facility dedicated to the incarceration and reform of juvenile offenders was created in Rome by the Catholic Church. The complete lack of rights for juveniles in juvenile courts first began to erode in 1966 with the Supreme Court decision in Kent v. United States. In that case, Morris Kent had his case transferred to adult court without a hearing or committing a crime that legislatively mandated that the case be transferred to adult court. In addition to the greater informality and often more lenient punishment that juveniles are provided within the juvenile court system, juveniles are also afforded two protections in adult courts that adult offenders lack.
