rights of juveniles in regard to criminal proceedings have been highly debated for a number of years. It is an issue that continues to be debated and the likelihood is that it will remain so. Needless to say, juveniles charged with criminal offenses do not have the same constitutional rights as those afforded adults facing similar charges. In fact, it is has been only in the past several decades that juveniles had any due process rights at all. Beginning in the mid-1960s, the courts began recognizing the need for providing juveniles with some of the same rights given to adults but the granting of these rights came about only after a shift in policy by the courts.

Traditionally, juveniles that became involved in criminal behavior were not charged with violating a criminal statute. Instead, the states set up special courts, usually identified as juvenile courts that handled juveniles as being...
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