The Juvenile Court System

Jurisdiction Juvenile murder convictions Access to juvenile proceedings and court records Trial by jury in delinquency proceedings Transfer hearings Juvenile Court locations
Juvenile courts have jurisdiction over:

care and protection petitions filed on behalf of abused or neglected children including issues of paternity and child support orders
CHINS (Child In Need of Services) petitions alleging truancy, runaway, stubborn child
delinquent complaints concerning children between the ages of seven and 17 who are accused of violating city ordinances, town by-laws or state statutes
complaints against adults for contributing to the delinquency of minors
failure by adults to send children to school.

By statute, all matters on behalf of or against children are considered non-criminal in nature.

Traditionally, Juvenile Court jurisdiction ended upon a child attaining the age of 18. As of Dec. 1990 this jurisdiction was extended to age 19 in supervising orders of probation or commitment when cases were not disposed of prior to age 18.

Juvenile murder convictions
On Dec. 31, 1991 a new sentencing structure was created for juveniles who are committed to DYS as a result murder or manslaughter adjudications. Juveniles adjudicated delinquent by reason of murder receive mandatory sentences that cannot be suspended.

First degree murder: 15 to 20 years, 15 years to be served before parole eligibility. Juveniles receiving these sentences are transferred to the adult Department of Corrections at age 21 to serve the balance of their terms (DYS has the option of transfer at age 18.)

Second degree murder: 10 to 15 years, 10 years to be served before parole

In manslaughter adjudications, DYS jurisdiction is extended to age 21.
Access to juvenile proceedings and court records
Care and protection and delinquency proceedings have traditionally been closed to the public.

In December 1990 the law was changed to allow public access to Juvenile Court in cases where a juvenile between the ages of 14 and 17 is charged with murder. Case law enables judges to limit access and impound documents in sensitive circumstances.

While there are no statutes specifically closing CHINS, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and failure to cause school attendance proceedings, reporters should contact the presiding judge of the session or the Juvenile Court administrative justice to obtain permission for entrance to the session in question.

Statutory law does not clearly state that the record of CHINS proceedings are confidential, however the Juvenile Court administrative justice has instructed the courts that CHINS records are only available to parties and their counsel. Records in care and protection proceedings are confidential.

Records of juvenile delinquency adjudications can now be used in subsequent proceedings for purposes of impeachment and sentencing.

Publication of names
It is against the law to publish the names of persons before the court in care and protection proceedings. There is no statute that prohibits publication of the names of a minors charged with delinquent acts.

Appeals
Adjudications and commitments under care and protection statutes are appealable to the Appeals Court.

CHINS cases may be appealed to the jury-of-six in the appeals session of the Juvenile Court. Appellate review from this session may be pursued in the Appeals Court.

Juvenile delinquency bench trials may be appealed to the appeals session of the Juvenile Court, where a juvenile is entitled to a jury-of-six for non-indictable offenses and jury-of-twelve for offenses that would be indictable were the defendant an adult.

Trial by jury in delinquency proceedings
A child accused of a delinquent act is entitled to a trial by jury in the first instance. A child charged with a crime that, if that child were an adult, could only be tried upon indictment, is entitled to a 12-person jury trial. All other offenses are tried before a six-person jury.

A child accused of a delinquent act may waive a jury trial in the first instance and have a bench trial. The child may then appeal from an adjudication for a trial de novo -- a new trial before a jury in the appeal sessions of the Juvenile Court. Appellate review is within the purview of the Appeals Court.

Transfer hearings
Cases that involve the threat or infliction of serious bodily harm frequently result in the commonwealth moving for a transfer hearing. This hearing is an attempt to transfer the cases from Juvenile Court jurisdiction to the adult court for trial and sentencing.
To be eligible for transfer a child must be between the ages of 14 and 17 and

a)is committed to DYS and is charged with what would be a felony if the child were and adult
or
b)charged with an offense which threatens or results in the infliction of serious bodily harm.
To justify a transfer to the adult court, the commonwealth must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the juvenile is presents a significant danger to the public and is not amenable to rehabilitation.
As a result of statutory revisions on Dec. 5, 1990 and Dec. 31, 1991 the Legislature has created separate treatment for enumerated offenses, including homicide. In these cases, transfer hearings are mandatory. There is also a mandatory presumption of non-amenability to rehabilitation, although this may be rebutted by the defendant. In addition, the burden of proof required to sustain transfer in these cases has been reduced to preponderance of evidence.
The list of mandatory transfer hearing offenses is as follows:

first and second degree murder
manslaughter
rape
kidnapping
armed burglary
armed assault with intent to rob or murder.

The transfer hearing is a bifurcate process consisting of a probable cause (Part A) component and an amenability to rehabilitation proceeding (Part B). In allegations of murder, the commonwealth may proceed by indictment, which precludes the Part A hearing. At the conclusion of the process the transfer court must enter written findings supporting its conclusions to send the juvenile's case to the adult court or to retain jurisdiction.

The commonwealth has a statutory right to appeal decisions to retain juvenile jurisdiction to the Appeals Court. Juveniles challenging transfer decisions must seek interlocutory relief filing motions to dismiss in the superior court and then seeking appellate review in the Supreme Judicial Court.

Post conviction Superior Court transfer appeals are rare as, by the time young people reach this stage, they have aged out of the juvenile system.

Juvenile Court locations
For many years, the Juvenile Court consisted of four divisions: Boston, Worcester, Springfield and Bristol County. In all other regions, juvenile matters were heard in the juvenile sessions of the various district courts.
As part of court reform legislation enacted in January 1993, the Juvenile Court is to be expanded state-wide and will eventually include divisions in the following counties:

Suffolk -- Dorchester, West Roxbury, Boston, Roxbury, Brighton, Charlestown, East Boston, South Boston
Barnstable and town of Plymouth -- Orleans, Barnstable, Plymouth, Nantucket, Edgartown
Plymouth -- Brockton, Hingham, Wareham
Norfolk -- Quincy, Dedham Brookline
Middlesex -- Cambridge, Framingham, Lowell, Woburn, Waltham
Essex -- Lynn, Salem, Newburyport, Lawrence
Worcester-- Fitchburg, Dudley, Uxbridge, Worcester
Franklin and Hampden -- Greenfield, Holyoke, Springfield
Bristol -- New Bedford, Taunton, Fall River, Attleboro

While the legislation specified that the new divisions be created by July 1993, as of this writing (April 1996), difficulties in obtaining space for the new courts has postponed opening the new divisions; only the original four divisions are in operation.