Vann v. Scott
| Decision Date | 13 September 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 71-1387.,71-1387. |
| Parties | Ola Mae VANN et al., Petitioners-Appellants, v. William J. SCOTT, Attorney General of the State of Illinois, and Edward V. Hanrahan, State's Attorney of Cook County, Illinois, Respondents-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Lewis A. Wenzell, Patrick T. Murphy, Chicago, Ill., for petitioners-appellants.
Edward V. Hanrahan, State's Atty., James A. Rooney, Asst. State's Atty., William J. Scott, Atty. Gen., Morton E. Friedman, Asst. Atty. Gen., Chicago, Ill., James B. Zagel, Robert E. Davison, Asst. Attys. Gen., Crim. Justice Div., Chicago, Ill., for respondents-appellees.
Before SWYGERT, Chief Judge, KILEY and STEVENS, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiffs contend that § 2-2(b) of the Illinois Juvenile Court Act1 is unconstitutional because it allows the State to stigmatize and to punish runaway children in the same way as young persons guilty of aggravated felonies. They contend that the classification of runaways as delinquents offends the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and that the potential punishment is cruel and unusual within the Eighth Amendment. These contentions have been rejected by the Illinois Supreme Court2 and by the court below.
As originally filed, the complaint requested a three-judge court, a declaration that § 2-2(b) is unconstitutional, and an injunction against its enforcement. The prayer for injunctive relief was thereafter abandoned, the district court denied the request to convene a three-judge court and dismissed the complaint. This appeal followed.3
Plaintiffs are juveniles who, because they have run away on more than one occasion either from family situations which they found intolerable or from foster homes to which they were unable to adjust, have been found to be minors in need of supervision pursuant to § 2-3 of the Illinois statute.4 Each had violated a court order by again running away from home without consent. Delinquency petitions had been filed against them pursuant to § 2-2(b). That section now provides:5
"Those who are delinquent include . . . (b) any minor who has violated a lawful court order made under this Act."
At the time the complaint was filed, petitions to declare the plaintiffs delinquent were pending in the Juvenile Court of Cook County. This action was originally filed on behalf of all boys under 17 years of age and girls under 18 years of age against whom similar delinquency petitions had been filed alleging the violation of a court order by running away without consent. Although the delinquency petitions against the named plaintiffs were dismissed voluntarily by the State prior to the decision of the court below,6 the detailed allegations in the complaint indicate a likelihood that one or more such petitions might again be filed. Treating the question of standing on the basis of the facts as alleged at the time federal jurisdiction was invoked, we think plaintiffs had standing to raise the questions they have argued here.7
Plaintiffs argue that the statute is unconstitutional "as applied to their conduct."8 A brief description of the statutory scheme will demonstrate that § 2-2(b) is not invalid on its face and will, we believe, make it plain why we are persuaded that no unconstitutional application to the plaintiffs is disclosed by the record.
A determination that a child is delinquent within the meaning of § 2-2(b) may be made only in an adjudicatory hearing. No challenge is made to the adequacy of the procedural safeguards which are set forth in the statute for such a hearing. A finding of delinquency may result in a variety of dispositional orders. One of the alternatives available is that such a minor may be committed to the Department of Corrections under § 5-10 of the Act.9 That section requires the court to make specific findings to support such a commitment, including a finding that the best interests of the minor and the public will not be served by an alternative disposition.10
On their face, we believe the statutory provisions relating to the possible commitment of a juvenile to the custody of the Department of Corrections following an adjudication of delinquency reveal no apparent defect. Plaintiffs contend, however, that in fact a substantial number of runaways are treated as though they are guilty of serious crimes and that such treatment violates their constitutional rights.
The short answer to plaintiffs' contention is that there is no certainty that they, or that any other identifiable members of the class they represent, will in fact receive the treatment of which they complain. It therefore cannot be said that the statute "as applied" to plaintiffs manifests any constitutional defect. We believe, however, that an additional response should be made to each of plaintiffs' contentions.
Plaintiffs correctly argue that, apart from the matter of punishment, a finding of delinquency may have an adverse effect on their reputation and future. This impact is aggravated by the fact that nothing more serious than running away from surroundings which may be justifiably regarded as undesirable, or even intolerable, may lead to the same stigma as participation in a serious crime, such as rape or murder. We recognize the force to plaintiffs' objection, but do not believe the delinquency classification is constitutionally infirm.
Plaintiffs' objection could be met either by placing a more reprehensible label on those guilty of more serious conduct or by establishing a subcategory of "less blameworthy delinquents" for runaways only, or perhaps those guilty of only minor misconduct. As a matter of policy, perhaps such subclassification would be appropriate. On the other hand, we cannot say that there is no rational basis for the General Assembly's definition of delinquency. The broad classification serves the legislative purpose of lessening the stigma that attaches to the youth who has committed a serious offense but is nevertheless an eligible candidate for complete rehabilitation. If the classification were to be narrowed, the stigma associated with the finding would increase.
The purpose of the classification is not primarily to label or to conceal the character of a child's misconduct. It is to afford the State an adequate opportunity to rehabilitate and safeguard delinquent minors rather than to punish them. Tragic though the plight of the chronic runaway may be, we cannot say that it is irrational to conclude that the same kind of correctional treatment may be appropriate for him as for another youth who has already engaged in more serious antisocial conduct.
The Illinois statutory scheme allows for great flexibility and discretion on the part of the court, both in the determination of delinquency and in the ensuing dispositional proceedings. There is certainly a rational basis for a legislative judgment that such broad discretion is desirable. We do not believe the Equal Protection Clause is violated either by the failure to create subcategories within the delinquency classification or by including runaways within the category of youths whose best interests may be found to require commitment to the Department of Corrections.
Plaintiffs' more serious contention is predicated on the Eighth Amendment. They argue that the so-called "training schools" to which many delinquents are committed are, in fact, prisons in which they are subjected to indignities and inhumane treatment.11 They argue that there is no justification for punishment, certainly not of such an aggravated character, for conduct which is not a crime. Thus, some consequences of a delinquency adjudication are cruel and unusual.
In argument before us12, the Attorney General advanced two justifications which we categorically reject.
First, he argued that a minor child, unlike an adult, has no right to liberty; the child has only a right to a responsible adult custodian, and the Superintendent of the Department of Corrections is such a custodian. For this argument the State relies on In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 18 L. Ed.2d 527. But the portion of that opinion on which the State relies13 describes a conceptual approach which is repudiated by the Court's actual holding. Later in that opinion, the Court unambiguously concluded that a juvenile has a right to liberty which is safeguarded by the Constitution.14 Although there is room for legitimate difference of opinion about the content of the term "liberty" as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, particularly as its meaning may vary between adults and juveniles, we have no doubt that the constitutional protection encompasses children. The status of legal custodian does not give the Superintendent of the Department of Corrections carte blanche to disregard a child's constitutional rights.15
The Attorney General's second response is that the Eighth Amendment is inapplicable because the Illinois statute does not authorize any punishment of juveniles whatsoever. Whatever the State does with the child is done in the name of rehabilitation. Since—the argument runs—by definition the treatment is not "punishment," it obviously cannot be "cruel and unusual punishment." But neither the label which a State places on its own conduct, nor even the legitimacy of its motivation, can avoid the applicability of the Federal Constitution. We have no doubt that well intentioned attempts to rehabilitate a child could, in extreme circumstances, constitute cruel and unusual punishment proscribed by the Eighth Amendment.
On the other hand, we cannot accept plaintiffs' converse but equally doctrinaire argument that any correctional treatment that may be appropriate as punishment for a criminal offense is necessarily cruel and inhumane if applied to a runaway who has committed no crime. As the Illinois Supreme Court has held, in some circumstances the State's interest in...
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