Assignment:
Choose one of the following two assignments to complete this week. Do not do both assignments. Identify your assignment choice in the title of your submission.
Option 1: Minority Confinement
You are a judge in Central City Juvenile Court. After 15 years on the bench, it is clear to you that many minority youths come before you in Court. In fact, you have asked the Records Office to give you some statistics. Those statistics confirm that a higher percentage of minority youths, compared to their proportion in the County, come into Juvenile Court. You are convinced that the problem is larger than juvenile court. You believe that a significant reason for this problem is structural inequality and poverty.
Prepare an article intended to raise public awareness which addresses the following questions:
• What are the root causes of disproportionate minority confinement?
• What additional factors affect disproportionate minority confinement and minority youth?
• What can a judge, police respondents, and the community do about this problem?
Your paper must meet the following requirements:
• Your written paper should be 2 to 3 pages in length not counting the title and reference pages, which you must include.
• Use terms, evidence, and concepts from class readings.
• Cite at least three scholarly sources for this assignment. Scholarly resources include: peer-reviewed journal articles, books, the class textbook, or reports/documents from the government (.gov sites). A scholarly source does not include general sources from the internet (.com, .org, .edu, and .net sites are not scholarly). Scholarly resources should be current (no older than five years). If the class textbook is used as a source, then two other scholarly sources must be used.
Option 2: Case Studies
Analyze the following U.S. Supreme Court cases and their influence on policing and due process in juvenile justice:
• In re Gault 387 U.S. 1 (1967)
• In re Winship 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
Your analysis should specifically address the following questions:
• How did these cases influence police arrests and how police interact with juveniles?
• How did these cases change victim court procedures in juvenile justice?
Your paper must meet the following requirements:
• Your written paper should be 2 to 3 pages in length not counting the title and reference pages, which you must include.
• Use terms, evidence, and concepts from class readings.
• Cite at least three scholarly sources for this assignment. Scholarly resources include: peer-reviewed journal articles, books, the class textbook, or reports/documents from the government (.gov sites). A scholarly source does not include general sources from the internet (.com, .org, .edu, and .net sites are not scholarly). Scholarly resources should be current (no older than five years). If the class textbook is used as a source, then two other scholarly sources must be used.