List the duties of the juvenile court judge. Explain why it is difficult to attract well-trained individuals for juvenile courts in limited or specialized jurisdictions?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

? Rule on pretrial motions involving such legal issues as arrest, search and seizure, interrogation, and lineup identification.
? Make decisions about the continued detention of children prior to trial.
? Make decisions about plea bargaining agreements and the informal adjustment of juvenile cases.
? Handle trials, rule on the appropriateness of conduct, settle questions of evidence and procedure, and guide the questioning of witnesses.
? Assume responsibility for holding dispositional hearings and deciding on the treatment accorded the child.
? Handle waiver proceedings.
? Handle appeals where allowed by statute.
? If the juvenile court is of limited or specialized jurisdiction and has the authority to try only minor cases, it may attract only poorly trained personnel. Lawyers and judges who practice in juvenile court receive little respect. The juvenile court has a negative image, because even though what it does is of great importance to parents, children, and society in general, it has been placed at the lowest level of the judicial hierarchy.