Young People in the Courts of New York State: Albany: Legislative Document No. 55, 1942.

This is a final public report of the Joint Legislative Committee to 'examine into, investigate and study the existing facilities for the care and treatment of children'. This committee has been in existence for five years and has, from time to time, submitted drafts of enactments, none of which have been ratified by the legislature. This report of three hundred pages is a hodge-podge of previously submitted proposals and new recommendations. There is also a review of the present state of affairs regarding the treatment of young offenders in New York State and elsewhere which contains some extremely valuable information mixed with much else. There are many overlapping considerations, such as the extension of the juvenile court age and the enactment of new laws to take offenders above sixteen out of the juvenile court jurisdiction. The value of special courts for youths is emphasized. The section on The Adolescent contains very poorly digested material concerning the emotional life of that period. Critical readers will recognize that this report was written to order by Mr. B. S. Alper, Research Director to the Committee. Our guess is that if he had not been compelled to follow along the lines laid down by the committee he would have produced a very different document.