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The Colorado Lawyer / April 2003 / Vol. 32, No. 4 / 63 Colorado Juvenile Court History: The First Hundred Years by Laoise King This The Colorado Lawyer article was written by Laoise King, Denver, an assistant city attorney working in the child welfare practice group of the Denver City Attorney’s Office— (720) 944-3100, laoise.king@dhs.co.denver.co.us.
Colorado juvenile courts have been functioning for more than a century.
This article reviews the history and development of juvenile courts in
the state. of the Colorado juvenile court. Colorado, often characterized as a leader in the development of juvenile law, created one of two original “separate” juvenile courts in the country.1 In 1899, the Cook County Juvenile Court was founded in Chicago; the Colorado juvenile court was established soon after. 2 There is some controversy among scholars regarding the actual founding date of the Colorado juvenile court, but most agree that it was established on March 7, 1903.3 On that date, the Colorado General Assembly officially created a separate docket, record, and name for its juvenile court.4 As society’s awareness of children as a class grew in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the creation and use of juvenile courts allowed communities to recognize the humanity of children and their entitlement to justice. Therefore, the progress of the Colorado legal community can be tied to such issues as how the Colorado juvenile court was founded and developed, who influenced it, and what it has become. This article provides a brief overview of that historical process. In addition to being one of the first states to create a juvenile court, Colorado was a leader in a number of other areas related to juvenile law.This article addresses the state’s enactment of mandatory reporting statutes, recognition of child abuse as an epidemic, mandating of the appointment of guardians ad litem to represent the best interests of children in dependency and neglect cases, and emphasis on due process for juveniles.
Before Juvenile Courts Were Established Prior to the establishment of juvenile courts, juvenile offenders generally were treated by the law in the same manner as adults.For example, in larger communities, juveniles convicted of crimes were sent to reformatories, which essentially were miniature labor-intensive prisons.5 Juveniles were prosecuted under the general criminal statutes in adult courts. They awaited disposition of their cases in the county jail, where juveniles were mixed in with the general adult criminal population.6 School Law In 1899, Colorado passed its first law that distinguished juveniles from adults. Entitled, “An Act to Compel the Elementary Education of Children in School Districts of the First and Second Class” (“School Law”),7 the law was intended primarily as a compulsory school attendance law. However, the School Law contained some of the same features as the Illinois juvenile court law.The School Law was enacted two months before the Illinois law went into effect and a few days prior to the passage of the Illinois law.8 The School Law9 provided: Every child between the ages of 8 and 14 years, and every child between the ages of 14 and 16 years, who cannot read and write the English language or not engaged in some regular employment, who is an habitual truant from school, who absents itself habitually from school, or who is in attendance at any public, private or parochial school and is incorrigible, vicious or immoral in conduct, or who habitually wanders about the streets and public places during school hours, having no business or lawful occupation, shall be deemed a juvenile disorderly person. . . .”10 (Emphasis added.) The School Law provided jurisdiction to county courts over cases arising under it. On this basis, it can be argued that Colorado’s School Law actually was the first law in the country that created a juvenile court.
Role of Judge Benjamin Barr Lindsey Denver judge Benjamin Barr Lindsey often is credited with generating the first interest in juvenile law in Colorado. Under the authority of the School Law, Lindsey held that a child under 16 years of age who had committed a criminal act would be charged with improper conduct. He or she could be prosecuted as a juvenile disorderly person rather than as a criminal under the general statutes.11 Lindsey’s commitment to the cause of children and the law appeared to come from a sudden realization that the law should treat children differently from adults.12 Lindsey first became aware of a problem when, as a young lawyer, he was appointed to represent two criminals charged with burglary. Lindsey went to the jailhouse to meet with his clients and found grown men gambling with two 12-yearold boys. Outraged, Lindsey approached the guard and demanded to know why his clients were associating with children.To his surprise, he was told that his clients were the two young boys and that the older men had “real lawyers.”13 Lindsey was amazed to find that young boys were incarcerated with men of the “vilest immorality,” taking lessons in what Lindsey called the “high school of vice.”14 Thus, Lindsey began to investigate the conditions of children in Denver.Through his research, Lindsey discovered that many hardened criminals had begun their careers as juvenile offenders. In an attempt to help children and deter them from lives of crime, Lindsey searched the Colorado statutes and discovered the School Law of 1899. Lindsey began holding an informal juvenile court under the School Law as early as 1901.15 The School Law considered juvenile disorderly persons as wards of the state, to be corrected by the state in its capacity as parens patriae.16 This phrase meant that the state was to act as the parent of all children in its care, working in the child’s best interests rather than punishing the child as a criminal.17 On its face, the School Law applied only to children who violated it by playing truant. However, Lindsey construed the School Law to apply to all children who violated any criminal law.18 Judge Lindsey’s work was heavily dependent on the voluntary cooperation of others because there was no mechanism in the law to mandate the differential treatment of juveniles.19 Although the School Law provided the basis by which Lindsey established his juvenile court, the legality of his interpretation was somewhat uncertain. Therefore, its operation depended almost entirely on the cooperation of the district attorney and other court officials.20 In his courtroom, Lindsey was successful in persuading the district attorney to prosecute all charges against children under the School Law.21 Lindsey’s quasi-juvenile court also relied heavily on the cooperation of the school board and teachers, from whom Lindsey requested reports on his probationers every two weeks.22 Thus, in early 1902, when Lindsey discovered the existence of the Illinois juvenile court law, he quickly addressed the need for more concrete legislation on which to base his own juvenile court.23
Establishment of Colorado Juvenile Courts In 1903, with the encouragement of Judge Lindsey, the Colorado General Assembly passed “An Act Concerning Delinquent Children.”24 That act defined delinquent children as: . . . any child . . . 16 . . . years of age or under such age who violates any law of this state or any city or village ordinance; or who is incorrigible; or who knowingly associates with thieves, vicious or immoral persons; or who is growing up in idleness or crime, or who knowingly visits or enters a house of ill repute; or who knowingly patronizes or visits any policy shop or place where any gaming device is, or shall be, operated; or who patronizes or visits any saloon or dram shop where intoxicating liquors are sold; or who patronizes or visits any public pool room or bucket shop; or who wanders about the streets in the night time without being on any lawful business or occupation; or who habitually wanders about any railroad yards or tracks, or jumps or hooks on to any moving train, or enters any car or engine without lawful authority, or who habitually uses vile, obscene, vulgar, profane or indecent language, or is guilty of immoral conduct in any public place or about any school house.25 The legislation further stated that county courts were to have jurisdiction over such delinquent children, but that the county courts should keep separate records and dockets for juvenile cases.The act also provided that county courts handling juvenile cases should be known as the “Juvenile Court.”26 Pursuant to the act, children under the age of 14 were prohibited from being incarcerated in any “common jail” or “lock-up” under any circumstances.27 It is important to note that this first juvenile court included only delinquent children in its jurisdictional mandate. Therefore, the court heard cases relating to juveniles who had committed crimes, but not cases involving other children in need of state intervention. It was not until 1907 that Colorado expanded the jurisdiction of the juvenile court to include dependent and neglected children.28
Creation of Independent Juvenile Court In 1907, the General Assembly expanded the role of the juvenile court by establishing a juvenile court separate from the county court.29 Under the “Act Establishing a Juvenile Court . . . ,” the juvenile court had original jurisdiction in all criminal cases involving children, as well as cases involving the disposition, custody, or control of any child.30 This included statutory provisions governing delinquency, dependency and neglect of children; and other actions concerning any infant, child, or minor.31 Cases involving the legal duties and responsibilities of others toward children also were defined within the scope of the juvenile court’s jurisdiction.32 County courts were directed to transfer all pending cases within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court to that court on its organization.33 Trial by jury was authorized in the juvenile courts.34 Appeals and writs of error on final judgments were to be directed to the Colorado Supreme Court.35 In addition to specifying the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, the General Assembly included a strongly worded provision as to the exclusivity of its jurisdiction.36 County courts were prohibited from exercising jurisdiction over any cases involving delinquent, dependent, or neglected children, as well as other matters37 as spec- ified in the juvenile court’s jurisdictional statement.38 An exception to the exclusivity of juvenile court was made for child custody proceedings, which were part of divorce and probate actions.39 The new legislation also included a provision that legislation creating the juvenile courts was to be liberally construed. This was done to ensure concurrent jurisdiction of the juvenile and district courts in two kinds of criminal cases: (1) those that alleged crimes committed by minors; and (2) those that alleged crimes committed by adults and that involved the person or the morals of a child or minor.40 On March 20, 1923, the legislature enacted a new jurisdictional statement for the juvenile courts.41 This new legislation gave the juvenile courts coordinate jurisdiction with the district and county courts to hear criminal cases relating to juveniles under the age of 21, as well as anyone charged with an offense against or involving the morals of a person under 21 years of age.42 The court also was vested with exclusive jurisdiction in cases concerning neglected, dependent, or delinquent children, and against persons contributing to those conditions.Additionally, the juvenile court maintained exclusive jurisdiction over cases concerning adoption, custody, or disposition of children and their protection from neglect, cruelty, and abuse, as well as proceedings concerning “feeble-minded children.” 43 On the same date in 1923, the legislature amended the dependency and neglect statute. It was revised to include all children under the age of 18 in the class of children who could be deemed dependent and neglected;44 the prior age limit had been 16 years of age.45 Judge Lindsey Loses Juvenile Court Seat In 1927, Judge Lindsey lost his seat on the juvenile court bench after losing a legal battle over a close election in 1924.46 This was largely due to a concerted effort by the Ku Klux Klan to unseat Lindsey, whom they disliked for his humanitarian, pro-immigrant, and pro-labor leanings.47 When Lindsey was ousted from office, he removed the records of the juvenile court and stored them in his home to keep them from his more punitive successors. One night, he and his wife, accompanied by friends and reporters, destroyed the records. Lindsey recalled the events of the evening of September 18, 1927: At Washington Street the procession was held up—I had forgotten the gasoline and matches. Dashing back home and securing these, I resumed my place in the procession. Piled in the lot, the papers were sprinkled with gasoline. I struck a match and dropped it flaming into the mass and, as I watched the records of suffering shrivel, blacken and turn to ashes, I was happy in the knowledge that the secrets of thousands of humans whom I had helped were safe forever from the public gaze or blackmail use by agents of the Ku Klux Klan.48 This story illustrates Judge Lindsey’s commitment and passion to the cause of preventing juvenile offenders from being stigmatized by their youthful acts.
From Benevolence To Process Although the jurisdiction of the juvenile court was expanding, it still remained distinct in purpose. Similar to other early juvenile courts around the country, Colorado’s fledgling courts focused on “saving” potentially criminal children from becoming hardened criminals, rather than focusing on protecting abused and neglected children. However, this emphasis by “child-savers” on preventing criminal conduct applied to both delinquent and dependent children.49 In a 1926 tribute to the juvenile court, Denver attorney James Pershing applauded this philosophy: What the ordinary court does to reach a judgment, the Juvenile Court does to make a diagnosis, when an ordinary court pronounces judgment, the Juvenile Court writes a prescription, and applies its remedies with the aid of all the social forces which the community is capable of exerting. . . . Therefore, except in a general way, there is very little substantive law, procedure being the essence of the matter. . . .With respect to process: to save a child from becoming a dependent or a delinquent or from continuing in a career of crime, to end in maturer [sic] years in public punishment and disgrace, the Legislature provides for the salvation of the child, if its parents or guardian be unable or unwilling so to do, by bringing it into court without any process at all, for the purpose of subjecting it to the State’s guardianship and protection. . . . The state, as parens patriae, takes the place of the father who has failed in his duty, and delegates the duty of saving the child to the judge of the Juvenile Court, who adopts such methods of reformation as he deems best suited to accomplish his purpose.”50 This philosophy of saving children from a life of crime, and focusing on benevolence rather than process, was prevalent around the country.51 However, in the mid-twentieth century, Colorado began to move away from this philosophy and toward a more process-oriented system.
Changes in the Early 1960s In 1960, as the population of Colorado expanded, the Colorado legislature changed the population requirement for the establishment of a juvenile court.The new legislation required juvenile courts in every county, or city and county, with a population greater than 250,000.52 In 1962, Denver pediatrician C. Henry Kempe and his colleagues published the landmark article, "The Battered Child Syndrome,” in the Journal of the American Medical Association.53 In the article, Kempe publicized his findings that significant numbers of parents and other caretakers physically abuse their children, sometimes even leading to death. Kempe coined the phrase “Battered Child Syndrome” to describe a pattern of child abuse resulting in certain clinical conditions. He also established a medical and psychiatric model of the cause of child abuse.54 The article was especially significant because it stated, for the first time, that child abuse was an epidemic rather than a rare occurrence. In response to the article, the U.S. Children’s Bureau held a symposium on child abuse, which produced recommendations for a model child abuse reporting law.55 In 1963, Colorado led the way by enacting one of the nation’s first mandatory child abuse reporting statutes. 56 In 1964, the Colorado General Assembly undertook a widespread restructuring of the court system.As part of this reorganization, the independent juvenile court system in the state was abolished in all jurisdictions except the City and County of Denver.57 The move toward abolishing separate juvenile courts around the state spurred a constitutional amendment, which created the Denver Juvenile Court. This court retained jurisdiction over juvenile matters in the City and County of Denver.58 However, jurisdiction over pending cases in all other counties was transferred to the juvenile division of the district courts.59 The Case of Gault and the Children’s Code The year 1967 was pivotal in the juvenile court system throughout the country. In the delinquency arena, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the juvenile court did not have unlimited parens patriae authority. 60 The Court in In re Gault61 found that juveniles had the right to notice of charges, confrontation and cross-examination of witnesses, and the right to counsel. 62 This case signaled the end of a court system that focused on benevolence rather than due process.63 In Colorado, the General Assembly adopted the Children’s Code in 1967.The new legislation expanded the jurisdiction of the juvenile division of the district court and the jurisdiction of Denver Juvenile Court. Among other things, the new Children’s Code allowed for the appointment of a guardian ad litem (“GAL”) in specific circumstances.64 Some legal historians believe that Colorado was the first state to mandate the appointment of GALs in dependency and neglect cases.65 The addition of attorneys to represent the best interests of children in dependency and neglect cases also marked the end of unlimited parens patriae authority of the juvenile court and the beginning of a more formalized, albeit more adversarial, process. Additional Laws Affecting Children It was not until 1974, with the enactment of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (“CAPTA”),66 that GALs were required to be appointed in all dependency and neglect cases around the country.67 In 1974, Congress also enacted the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (“JJDPA”).68 The JJDPA required that status offenders be removed from secure facilities and that juvenile offenders be separated from adults in institutional settings. Both these federal statutes eventually were incorporated into Colorado law.69 In 1980, Colorado revised its Children’s Code to incorporate provisions of the federal Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, also known as Public Law 96- 272.70 This legislation mandated states to make “reasonable efforts” to prevent removal of a child from a parent’s home, as well as reasonable efforts to reunify children with their parents after removal. Changes rendered by Public Law 96-272 remain in effect today.71 In 1994, the General Assembly enacted the Expedited Permanency Planning (“EPP”) program. The EPP legislation requires specified counties to implement expedited timelines for establishing permanency homes for children under 6 years of age. In EPP cases, children under 6 years old generally must be placed in a permanent home within twelve months.72 In 1997, Congress passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act (“ASFA”),73 which generated another major revision to the Colorado Children’s Code.74 ASFA included provisions for legal representation, state funding of child welfare and adoption, state performance requirements, and a general emphasis on promoting child safety and timely decision-making on placement issues. The Colorado Children’s Code subsequently incorporated these ASFA requirements. In the delinquency arena, 1997 also marked a major policy shift. In response to Denver’s “Summer of Violence,”75 the legislature revised several portions of the Children’s Code relating to juvenile offenders. This revision marked a shift from the juvenile court’s long-standing focus on rehabilitating youthful offenders to purposes of rehabilitation and a focus on public safety and accountability of juvenile offenders. 76 The new legislation made it easier for violent juvenile offenders to be tried as adults77 and included a “three strikes” mandatory sentence offender provision.78 Conclusion Colorado continues to be a leader in innovative practices to best serve delinquent and dependent children. In recent years, Colorado’s juvenile courts have pioneered programs such as the implementation of court facilitators, dependency court mediation, and implementation of special family courts and drug courts.79 Additionally, the Denver Juvenile Court remains one of only two separate juvenile courts in the country.80 On the centennial anniversary of the creation of their juvenile court, Coloradans have reason to be proud.
NOTES 1. National Center for State Courts, Denver Juvenile Court Review (1990) at 3. 2.Ventrell,“From Cause to Profession: The Development of Children’s Law and Practice,” 32 The Colorado Lawyer 65, 67 (Jan. 2003). 3. Some argue that Colorado’s juvenile court was established as early as 1899, when a truancy law created a status for juvenile offenders separate from adult criminals; others claim that the court was not established until 1907,when the General Assembly created a juvenile court as a court of record completely separate from the county court. 4. McCarthy and Carr, Juvenile Law and Its Processes (Charlottesville, VA: Michie Co., 1989) at 52. See also Act of March 7, 1903, ch. 85, 1903 Sess.Laws 178. 5. Ryerson, The Best Laid Plans: America’s Juvenile Court Experiment (New York,NY:Hill and Wang, 1978) at 31. 6. Id. 7. The “School Law,” Act of April 12, 1899, ch. 136, 1899 Sess.Laws 340. 8. McCarthy and Carr, supra, note 4 at 52. 9. Supra, note 7. 10. Id. at 342. 11. Id. 12. Clapp, Mothers of All Children:Women Reformers and the Rise of Juvenile Courts in Progressive Era America (University Park,PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998) at 112. 13. For more information on Judge Lindsey, as well as information about Denver Juvenile Court’s Centennial Celebration on April 30, 2003, visit http://100.juvenilelaw.net. See also Rodgers, “Six of the Greatest: Benjamin Barr Lindsey,” 22 The Colorado Lawyer 1427 (July 1993); Rodgers, “Judge Ben B. Lindsey and the Clan,” 5 The Colorado Lawyer 1633 (Nov. 1976). 14. Clapp, supra, note 12. 15. Id. at 113. 16. Id. 17. Id. 18. Id. 19. Id. 20. Id. 21. Colorado’s School Law has remained in effect since it originally was enacted in 1899, and continues to mandate school attendance for all children between 7 and 16 years of age. SeeCRS § 22-33-104. 22. Clapp, supra, note 12 at 113. 23. Id. 24. Act of March 7, 1903, ch. 85, 1903 Sess. Laws 178. 25. Id. 26. Id. at 179. 27. Id. at 181. 28. “Act Establishing a Juvenile Court . . . ,” Act of April 3, 1907, ch. 150, 1907 Sess. Laws 324. 29. Id. The “Act Establishing a Juvenile Court . . .” provided that “in each County, and in each municipality known and designated as a City and County, in this State, in which there is a population of . . . [100,000] . . . or more inhabitants, there is hereby created and established a court of record, to be known as the Juvenile Court of such County, or City and County.” Id. at 325. 30. Id. 31. Id. at 324. 32. Id. 33. Id. 34. Id. 35. Id. 36. Id. 37. Other matters included in the juvenile court’s jurisdictional mandate included any matter that concerned or related to “the person, liberty, protection, correction, morality, control, adoption or disposition of any infant, child or minor.” Id. at 325. 38. Id. at 324. 39. Id. 40. Bintliff, “A Jurisdictional History of the Colorado Courts,” 65 U. Colo. L.Rev. 577, 621 (1994). 41. Act of March 20, 1923, ch. 78, 1923 Sess. Laws 208, 209. 42. Id. 43. Id. 44. Act of March 20, 1923, ch. 77, 1923 Sess. Laws 204. 45. Act of April 2, 1907, ch. 168, 1907 Sess. Laws 361. 46. People ex. Rel. Graham v. Lindsey, 253 P. 465 (Colo. 1927). 47. “Six of the Greatest,” supra, note 13 at 1428. 48. Larsen, The Good Fight: The Life and Times of Ben B. Lindsey (Chicago, IL: Quadrangle Books, 1972) at 29. 49. Ventrell, “Evolution of the Dependency Component of the Juvenile Court,” Kids, Court and Community, Providing Kids Access to Justice, 1999 Children’s Law Manual Series (Denver, CO: National Association of Counsel for Children, 1999) at 1, 3. 50. Preshing, “The Juvenile Court: An Appreciation,” 3 Denv.B. Ass’n. Rec. 28, 30 (1926). 51. Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944) (affirming states’ authority to intervene in family relationships under theory of parens patriae). 52. Act of March 10, 1960, ch. 41, 1960 Sess. Laws 130. See previous population requirement, supra, note 29. 53. Kempe et al., “The Battered Child Syndrome,” 181 JAMA17 (1962). 54. Id. 55.Ventrell, supra note 49 at 3. 56.Act of May 3, 1963, ch. 77, 1963 Sess. Laws 225. 57. However, the General Assembly’s creation of the Denver Juvenile Court, while abolishing separate juvenile courts in other districts in the state, would have violated Colo. Const. Art. VI, § 19. (“All laws relating to state courts shall be general and of uniform operation throughout the state. . . .”) Therefore, the Denver Juvenile Court was authorized by constitutional amendment, which was approved by popular vote on Nov. 6, 1962. This amendment was codified in the Act of Feb. 20, 1964, ch. 46, 1964 Colo. Sess. Laws 437, 444 and Colo. Const. Art VI, § 15. 58. Colo. Const.Art VI, § 15. 59. Act of March 24, 1964, ch. 39, 1964 Sess. Laws 203, 211. 60. In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967). 61. Id. 62. Id. 63.Ventrell, supra note 2 at 67. 64. Act of June 16, 1967, ch. 443, 1967 Sess. Laws 1007. 65. See Fraser,“Independent Representation for the Abused and Neglected Child:The Guardian Ad Litem,” 13 Cal.W.L.Rev. 16, 17 n.7 (1976); Dale, “Providing Counsel to Children in Dependency Proceedings in Florida,” 25 Nova L.Rev. 769, 798 (2001). 66.Pub.L.No. 93-273,42 U.S.C. §§ 5101 et seq. (1974). 67. Id. 68.Pub.L.No. 93-415,42 U.S.C. §§ 5601 et seq. (1974). 69. See CRS §§ 19-2-401 et seq. and 19-3- 100.5 et seq. 70.Pub.L.No. 96-272, 42 U.S.C. § 420 (1980). 71. CRS § 19-3-100.5. 72. CRS § 19-1-123. 73. Pub.L.No. 105-89. 74. CRS § 19-3-100.5. 75. In the Summer of 1993, Denver received nationwide media attention after juveniles were involved in several highly publicized gang-related killings, some involving children and other innocent victims.The events became known as the “Summer of Violence.” 76. CRS § 19-2-102. 77. CRS §§ 19-2-517 and -518. 78. CRS § 19-2-516. 79.For more detailed information, seeTaylor, “Innovative Practices in Juvenile Court,” 31 The Colorado Lawyer 51 (Oct. 2002). 80. The Cook County Juvenile Court in Illinois is the only other remaining separate juvenile court. The Colorado Lawyer / April 2003 / Vol. 32, No. 4
"Reproduced by permission of the Colorado Bar Association from Vol. 32, page 63 of the April 2003 issue, copyright Colorado Bar Association (2003). All rights reserved." |