Discuss bail for youth. Do you agree or disagree with bail for juveniles, why or why not?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• One critical pretrial issue is whether juveniles can be released on bail. Adults retain the right, via the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, to reasonable bail in noncapital cases.
• Most states, however, refuse juveniles the right to bail. They argue that juvenile proceedings are civil, not criminal, and that detention is rehabilitative, not punitive.
• It is argued that juveniles do not need a constitutional right to bail because statutory provisions allow children to be released into parental custody.
• State juvenile bail statutes fall into three categories: (1) those guaranteeing the right to bail, (2) those that grant the court discretion to give bail, and (3) those that deny a juvenile the right to bail.
• This disparity may be a function of the lack of legal guidance on the matter. The U.S. Supreme Court has never decided the issue of juvenile bail.
• Some courts have stated that bail provisions do not apply to juveniles. Others rely on the Eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment, or on state constitutional provisions or statutes, and conclude that juveniles do have a right to bail.
• Student responses will vary.