As late as the nineteenth century, crimes committed by juveniles were handled in the adult courts. By the late 1800's, reforms in this area began, resulting in a separation of juvenile and adult courts. The state of Illinois established the first juvenile court in 1899. Before 1899, children would go to trial as adults and could get adult punishments such as long prison terms, severe corporal punishment and sometimes even the death penalty (Hartford Institute of Criminal …showed first 75 words of 843 total…

…showed last 75 words of 843 total…Keep juveniles separate from adults. 3. Eliminate the sharing of staff between the juvenile and adult system. 4. Establish maximun security juvenile prisons. 5. Link the juvenile justice system with violence in the home. The country is fortunate that Senator Biden is bringing this issue to the forefront at this time. Juvenile crime continues to be a huge problem in the U.S. and the more resources we get, the easier it will be to combat this problem.