Are there special crimes to control juvenile behavior?
While there is a special court system (Superior Court Family Part) to handle juvenile crime, there is not a special juvenile criminal code. The adult criminal code is applied in the juvenile system, but the children are not generally accused of crimes. Instead, they are accused of committing delinquent acts. Sentences are called dispositions, a child is not convicted but adjudicated delinquent, and the dispositions are designed to educate and rehabilitate children, rather than punish them. Under certain circumstances a juvenile may be “waived” up and treated as an adult in the Superior Court Criminal Part. In earlier days, special crimes that only applied to children did exist. These crimes were the so-called status offenses and punished behavior that would not be criminal if committed by an adult. Status offenses included running away from home, skipping school, disobeying parents, and breaking curfew. These “JINS” offenses (Juvenile in Need of Supervision) do not usually require atto
