Is There a Jurisprudential Future for the Juvenile Court?

Dependency and participated in drafting the ABA’s Standards for Representing Chil-dren in Abuse and Neglect Cases. She has written numerous articles on the rights of children. ABSTRACT: This article considers the arguments for abolition of the juvenile court and suggests that its proponents may not go far enough in their proposals to dismantle the juvenile court’s delinquency juris-diction. While eliminating the juvenile court’s delinquency jurisdic-tion may be justifiable given the court’s emphasis on punishment and control, any such proposal also must account for the institutional ef-fects on the court. Particularly, proponents of abolishing the court’s delinquency jurisdiction on grounds that it is a flawed criminal court must consider whether that criticism also provides justification for abolition of the juvenile court’s status offense jurisdiction since status offenders also are subject to state control for their behaviors. Moreover, even if a separate juvenile court is retained, proponents o