Court OKs Punishing Minors by Incarceration

SAN FRANCISCO — Juvenile offenders may be committed to the California Youth Authority in order to punish them and protect the public, a state Court of Appeal panel has ruled.

The three-member court said it is permissible to order minors incarcerated on such grounds, so long as the commitment also afforded them a chance for rehabilitation.

The decision Wednesday upholds a new approach the Legislature took toward the juvenile justice system and will stand as a statewide precedent unless overturned by the state Supreme Court.

Change in Law

Citing a change in state law in 1984, the panel unanimously upheld the commitment of a minor identified only as Michael D., who was found to have participated in what the court called a “brutal and violent” sexual assault on a woman at a San Francisco playground in January, 1986.

The youth’s attorneys had contended that he had been improperly committed for retribution rather than rehabilitation and that, as a young man of “high intelligence” and “tremendous potential,” he would derive no benefit at a CYA facility.

The panel, in an opinion by Appellate Justice Harry W. Low, noted that under previous rulings, CYA commitments were allowed only where minors would likely receive “rehabilitative benefits” and where less-restrictive alternatives would be ineffective.

But the Legislature in 1984 recognized punishment as a rehabilitative tool and shifted the emphasis of the juvenile justice system toward “protection and safety of the public,” Low wrote.

‘Shocking Callousness’

The panel said that even if it accepted the minor’s contention that he only aided in the commission of the crime, his refusal to help the victim “exhibits a shocking callousness which requires appropriate treatment and guidance.”