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Juvenile Justice In Washington: A Punitive System In Need Of Rehabilitation, Jeffrey K. Day

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment argues that the juvenile justice system should be retained in theory, but that Washington’s punitive approach has failed and should be restructured to embrace a system that focuses more on the needs of the offender than on the results of the offense. This Comment advocates for the punitive system to be replaced by laws that once again make rehabilitation a primary goal, but that also provide juveniles with the procedural safeguards necessary to ensure survival in the system. This Comment proposes a significant restructuring of the current system as a means of achieving that goal.