'The Court Devoured Him': The History of the North Carolina Juvenile Court Statute of 1919

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Brown, S. (2019). 'The Court Devoured Him': The History of the North Carolina Juvenile Court Statute of 1919. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

For over a century, North Carolina has continued to treat sixteen year olds as adults in the criminal justice system. The Juvenile Court Statute of 1919 mandated sixteen as the upper age of criminality, cementing that age for all juvenile offenders for the next 100 years. This study explores the development of the juvenile justice system in North Carolina from the turn of the twentieth century to understand why legislators in 1919 chose the age sixteen as perceived adulthood. I argue that a multitude of reasons, primarily child labor in the state, fortified legislator’s decision to maintain the age of adulthood at sixteen, despite recommendations from newly emerged national organizations such as the Children’s Bureau and National Child Labor Committee. In order to understand how North Carolina became the last state to raise the age, one must first understand how the age was implemented into state law. I describe the significant organizations, individuals, institutions, and legislation that began the separate juvenile justice system in North Carolina.

Details
Author

Brown, Savannah

Title

'The Court Devoured Him': The History of the North Carolina Juvenile Court Statute of 1919

Physical Description

1 online resource (132 pages) : PDF

Date

2019

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

For over a century, North Carolina has continued to treat sixteen year olds as adults in the criminal justice system. The Juvenile Court Statute of 1919 mandated sixteen as the upper age of criminality, cementing that age for all juvenile offenders for the next 100 years. This study explores the development of the juvenile justice system in North Carolina from the turn of the twentieth century to understand why legislators in 1919 chose the age sixteen as perceived adulthood. I argue that a multitude of reasons, primarily child labor in the state, fortified legislator’s decision to maintain the age of adulthood at sixteen, despite recommendations from newly emerged national organizations such as the Children’s Bureau and National Child Labor Committee. In order to understand how North Carolina became the last state to raise the age, one must first understand how the age was implemented into state law. I describe the significant organizations, individuals, institutions, and legislation that began the separate juvenile justice system in North Carolina.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

History

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

Court
Incarceration
Juvenile
North Carolina
State

Subject Area

History

Advisor(s)

Shapiro, Aaron

Committee Members

Listwan, Shelley
McKinley, Shepherd

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2019.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Brown_uncc_0694N_12100

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2293