Newspaper Page Text
Juvenile Judge Discusses Position
B> Palo Whiten
You hoar aUuil il on tho
radio and TV and road about
it in tho daily newspaper as
well as in the Progress-
Arcus
"Youths Arrostod for Bur
glary; .luvenilos Charged
with Breaking and Enter
ing."
Tho headlines are fami
liar; tho problem is a
growing one Statistics have
shown that crime among
teenagers has increased in
recent years.
Though not of unmanage
able proportions in Butts
County, the problem of
juvenile crime does exist.
Following is an interview
with Richard Watkins, juve
nile judge for Butts and
Lamar counties. This court
handles cases involving
offenders under 17 years of
age.
Watkins was appointed to
the position in April. 1976 and
here he talks about what
causes a juvenile to break the
law. what happens to him if
he does, and the jurisdiction
of his court.
What effect does a child's
home environment have on
his becoming a juvenile
delinquent?
It seems to me most of
these juvenile offenders
come out of homes that are
either too lenient or homes in
which one of the parents may
be overly strict and punishes
the child with undue severity
for the least infraction.
The lenient parent refuses
to condemn the thing the
child did whereas the too
strict parent reacts as if
society will condemn him
i the parent) for what his
child did. The parent wants
to "tear his child up" and he
does, sometimes over small
things, and then the child
may deliberately go out and
do what he wants to.
How do economics and
income level of a family
apply to those juveniles who
break the law?
Often when both parents
have to work and there's not
much supervision over the
children, perhaps they have
the tendency to get into
things more, especially if
there's not an older child who
can take responsibility for
the younger ones.
There is. of course, some
delinquency in all classes
and income brackets, but
probably the lower income
families have more prob
lems. and it’s probably
because of the necessity that
the parents work and be
away from home.
However, delinquency cuts
across all levels and it seems
to me it’s more a question of
how much care and love the
family gives a child that
deters him more than
anything else.
What is the jurisdiction of
juvenile court?
A juvenile judge has
jurisdiction over delinquent
and unruly children under
the age of 17.
Delinquent applies to child
ren who have done something
w rong. I mean children doing
something of the nature
which would be illegal.
Unruly children are status
offenders—children who are
in court because of having
done something wrong be
cause they are the age they
are, such as running away
from home that wouldn’t be
an offense for you or me, but
it. is for a child because of his
age.
If a juvenile has committed
a felony or misdemeanor, he
might, come before me before
he goes to a higher court,
except, m the case of capital
felonies.
We also have jurisdiction
over deprived children.
These are children who are
in circumstances where
they're not being cared for
properly
Do you hear child abuse
cases?
I do get child abuse
rases I’ve had a lew in
hiitt.s (.'purity where a parent
was alleged to have abused a
child
I haven't had :>o many, as I
think back, in which a parent
•war. doing, the abusing, but in
case:. I can remember, the
mother y/ould b<- separated
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RICHARD WATKINS. JUVENILE JUDGE FOR BUTTS AND LAMAR COUNTIES
or divorced from her
husband, who is the father,
and she might have a
boyfriend living in the home
and he was abusing the child.
But the mother was there
and she was permitting it to
happen and at least tem
porary custody was removed
from the mother.
What other kinds of cases
come before you?
I've had pretty much all
types of cases. We've tried
children for such things as
burglary and handling drugs.
Some have been sent to
Youth Development Centers
tYDC). There are four in
Georgia: Milledgeville, At
lanta. Augusta and Macon.
What do the centers
attempt to do?
The emphasis there, as
during the court proceedings,
is on rehabilitation. Young
people in these centers have
an opportunity to learn a
trade and go to school.
Probably the biggest prob
lem is there aren't enough of
those places and the centers
are not able to keep these
kids as long as would be most
beneficial to get them turned
in the right direction.
The children were prob
ably not getting the kind of
discipline they need at home
and were not taking advan
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tage of schooling and
training. In the centers they
are more or less made to
attend school and are
disciplined much better than
they are at home and
undoubtedly it's beneficial.
However, some of the
children don't benefit from
the centers, and some have
come back before my court.
Even those who haven’t, I get
reports they haven't actually
been caught in the act of
doing something illegal so
I'm sure some are not totally
rehabilitated.
Is the age of juvenile
offenders dropping—are
more younger kids breaking
the law?
I haven't noticed any
perceptible drop in the age of
those juveniles who break the
law. I handle some cases of
13-14 year olds but also many
around age 16, and I haven’t
noticed any great difference.
I understand that statisti
cally a . large proportion of
criminal cases are commit
ted by juveniles under 17.
What kind of dispositions
can you make in a case?
I can put an offender on
probation or back in the care
of his parents to be
supervised by a court service
worker or the offender can be
put in detention for a definite
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period and then back in the
care of his parents and
supervision of. a court service
worker. In addition, I can
turn the offender over to the
Department of Human Re
sources and recommend that
he be sent to a Youth
Development Center.
What is your philosophy of
juvenile court?
To try to get the child
turned in the right direction
and whatever I think is best
for that purpose, that’s what
I try to do. If the crime is
serious, sending the child to a
YDC is about the most severe
thing at my command, and I
only hope they can turn him
around and try to get him to
become a productive person.
Sometimes I think a little
punishment may be the way
to turn these kids around and
very often on first offenses I
send them to the child
detention center in Clayton
County which is where we
send children pending a
hearing or for punishment
after a hearing.
And often I’ve sent them up
there for at least 10 days just
to show them the seriousness
of what they’ve done even
though it may be a first
offense.
How do you feel about
being a juvenile judge?
State’s Work
With Youths
Told Kiwanis
Kiwaniuns lasi Tuesday
evening heard of Hie State’s
concern for, and method of
dealing with, youthful offend
ers. Two slaff members of
Ihe Youth Services Division
of the Georgia Department of
Human Resources brought
the program.
Rudy Wyatt, Court Ser
vices representative for the
!Griffin and Flint Judicial
'Circuits, and lairry Fletcher,
Court Service worker, re
viewed the Stale’s programs
in this field and showed a
film to graphically illustrate
the types of services offered.
According to Wyatt, the
program’s main thrust is
aimed at helping the errant
child in his home environ
ment where a year’s supervi
sion cost only $l9O a year, as
compared to $19,000 a year
It’s not the easiest job, but
I feel it’s a job where I’m
being useful and my present
intention is to finish out my
term in both counties which
runs until about 1980.
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The Citizens and Southern Bank of Jackson
. mi:mmi K in 11\
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER I. 1977
for institutional care
The Youth Services Divi
sion of Ihe Dept, of Human
Resources was created in
1907 to deal with the
growning problem of youth
ful offenders in the criminal
system.
Sam Freeman, of the Butts
County Farm Bureau, was
welcomed as anew member
and will Ik- inducted later.
Rev. David Beville, pastor of
the Jackson Presbyterian
Church, was a guest of the
Club.
Members of the Covington
Kiwanis Club making an
inter-club visit were Ed
Hunt, present divisional LI.
Gov. of Kiwanis Internation
al, Rev. Jack Elston, Lee
Payne and Sammy Osborne.
LI. Gov. elect Jack Smith,
of the Griffin Kiwanis Club,
was welcomed as a guest.
The Jackson Kiwanis Club
is leading all Division clubs
in attendance to date, with an
average of over 97 per cent,
President Doug Durrett
advised.
Jack Little, general chair
man of the Club’s Radio Day
program, slated for Septem
ber kith on WJGA, reported
much progress in the sale of
advertising. Members of the
Club will actually man the
WJGA microphones for the
entire day The project is one
of the Club’s biggest money
makers and helps finance
much of its charitable work
Legend has it that a horseshoe
nailed to a house door is a
protection against witches.
PUBLIC AUCTION
R. L. Swearingen, Sr. Estate Liquidation
and R. L. Swearingen, Jr. Dispersal
Wednesday, September 7, 1977 at the
farm located one mile south of
Reynolds, Ga. on Ga. 128
9:00 A.M. Belling complete line of farm anfl
cattle equipment including trucks and tractors.
10:00 A.M. Selling 500 registered polled
hereford cattle.
Public Welcome
For further details contact:
R. L. SWEARINGEN, JR.
Box 247 Reynolds, G. 31076
(912) 847-3535 Day ((912) 847-3167 Night
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