Volume III
Number 37
THE STATE
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
February 8
1936
Entered •• lecoad-eUie miner, Jnne I. 1933, el the Poitofltce el tUMgb. North Cerolln». nnd.r Ihe Aet of Merch 8. 1879
Dealing With J uvenile Offenders
JlIK-i: PLESS discusses one of the most
serious problems conf routing us («day. and
also offers a suggestion for its solution.
f*i/ .1. IVIIili PLKSS.
.Ш.
Judge Eighteenth Judicial District
A^UKSTION of grave «-om-ern In
our court* is whnt In «In witli
llio yontlifnl fir'i offemler. Wo
liave many youngsters who are con¬
victed of rut her serious offenses, such
as store-breaking, larceny, ami other
«•rimes, usually after having lieen up fur
juvenile delinquency prior t" the time
they bccauie sixteen years old.
Due to our limited reformatory fa¬
cilities (and somethin**, liecause the
«•lerk of the superior court, who is CX-
oflicio judge of the juvenile court, is
not always nominated and elected for
his qualities in inspiring and correct¬
ing juveniles), these youngsters hnv«*
been “paroled’’ in the custody of tin-
parents, whose failure to properly di¬
rect them was at least partially re¬
sponsible for their short«-oining$ in
oilier words, the law ha«l demonstrated
it' inability to check them.
Consequently, it is generally believed
by those youths that they will have sev¬
eral “days in court” lieforo the force
of the law will be meted out to them.
The Present Method
As the situation now exists, our su¬
perior courts have the choice of cither
continuing the treatment that has failed
— by lecturing the hoy and exacting a
promise that ho will not repeat his
offense — or of sentencing him to the
roads or the penitentiary with the fear
(which is usually well-founded), that
he will be forced to associate with hard-
cn«'«l and violent criminals "ho «ill
convince him that lie can l*eat the law.
inspire him to worse crime and tench
him more tri«-ks«»f the criminal trn«le.
There are many cases in which it is
apparent that if the child «*nn lie given
a slight demonstration of whnt impris¬
onment means, without subjecting him
to the influence of hardened offenders,
he will lake the lesson
!«•
Imarl and can
lie saved.
Judge J. Will Pless, Jr., of Marion,
North Carolina.
In North Carolina we mm have a
number of prison camps, more than
forty of them. It seems entirely prac¬
tical, that some six or eight of these
camps, properly distributed geographi¬
cally, could he designated as “boys'
camps,” to which no one should be ns-
sigiu'd except hoys under the age of
twenlv-one who are serving their tir't
sentences. At these camps, the men
serving as guar«Is should l>e chosen for
their high character and ability
«"
train
and inspire the hoys. They would serve
in the capacity «if counsellors as well as
supervisors of their work. The hoy
would l>e sent to the camp "f the par¬
ticular juvenile district in which lie
livisl. and would therefore I*' close
enough to his home that his parents and
friends could see him on week-ends.
Library facilities to a limited extent
could be providc«l, anil we w«mld thus
have, without the expenditure of money,
and with only a little thought given to
the selection of the personnel of tin*
"counsellors” a plncc where a l*oy might
I»- shown the error of his ways, what his
loss of liberty means, and his probable
future surroundings, if he «lid not re¬
form all without the danger of in¬
creasing his knowledge of crime through
had associates, and with the stigma only
of being in “boys’ camp” rather than
the penitentiary.
The plan has the advantage <>f being
practical, inexpensive and immediate.
It is hoped that the authorities will soon
give it a trial.