State v. Lemelin
| Decision Date | 07 October 1958 |
| Citation | 144 A.2d 916,101 N.H. 404 |
| Parties | STATE v. Gloris R. LEMELIN. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
Louis C. Wyman, Atty. Gen., John J. Zimmerman, Asst. Atty. Gen., and George E. Zopf, County Sol., Claremont, for the State.
Gerald F. Giles, Portsmouth, for defendant.
The issue presented by the defendant's exception is controlled by statute. See Annotations 123 A.L.R. 446; 48 A.L.R.2d 663, 696. The basic provisions of RSA ch. 169 were enacted in 1937. Laws 1937, c. 152. The act provides that municipal courts shall have 'exclusive' original jurisdiction of cases within the act, with authority to certify any felony case to the Superior Court. RSA 169:21, 29. Cf. P.L., c. 110, §§ 4, 31. The act is expressly made applicable 'only to those children under the age of eighteen years' (RSA 169:1); and the jurisdiction of the municipal court is to be invoked by petition to such a court in the county in which 'the child is found or resides.' RSA 169:3. The word 'child' is expressly defined as 'any boy or girl under the age of eighteen years.' RSA 169:2 III.
As originally filed the bill which became Laws 1937, c. 152, now RSA ch. 169, did not contain the provisions appearing in RSA 169:26, 27, but they were inserted in the bill in new draft, before passage. See House Bill 404, 1937 session. Section 26, supra, states that the purpose of the act is 'that the care, custody and disposition of the child shall approximate as nearly as may be that which should be given by his parents * * *.' This language is identical with that of the statute which it replaced. See P.L., c. 110, supra, § 32.
It is apparent that the exclusive jurisdiction conferred upon municipal courts by the applicable statute is limited to proceedings relating to children who are under eighteen years of age when the proceedings are brought. As to such children, the Superior Court is now without original jurisdiction, unless a felony is charged and the case is certified to it by the municipal court. RSA 169:21, supra. Cf. State v. Burt, 75 N.H. 64, 71 A. 30. In the case of a 'delinquent' child, once the jurisdiction of the municipal court attaches it continues until the child reaches twenty-one, unless the child is previously discharged or the case released to the Superior Court. RSA 169:1. But as we read the statute, no provision is made for attachment of the jurisdiction of the municipal court under this statute if the child is eighteen or over when the proceedings are commenced. RSA 169:1, 3, supra.
The provisions of section 26 stating the purpose of the enactment confirm this view. The primary purpose of the Legislature was to shield children under eighteen from the environment surrounding adult offenders and inherent in the ordinary criminal processes. State v. Burt, supra. As an incident to the accomplishment of this purpose, proceedings involving children under eighteen are so conducted as to prevent attachment of 'the stigma of a criminal' (United States v. Fotto, D.C.S.D.N.Y.1952, 103 F.Supp. 430, 431) by reason of conduct resulting from immature judgment. See In re Poulin, 100 N.H. 458, 129 A.2d 672. It does not follow however that our statute was intended to apply to children of eighteen or over on account of acts committed at an earlier age....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Benoit
...730, 731 (1965), and that special procedures are required to protect juveniles, who possess immature judgment. State v. Lemelin, 101 N.H. 404, 406, 144 A.2d 916, 918 (1958). In recognition that children often act imprudently and lack the capacity to understand the full consequences of their......
-
State v. Vachon
...purpose to protect minors from influences which might lead them to deportment injurious to their health or morals. See State v. Lemelin, 101 N.H. 404, 144 A.2d 916 (1958); Report of Commission to Recommend Codification of Criminal Laws, comments at 81 Defendant operated a 'Head Shop' on a '......
-
Perham, In re
...and game laws (s. 30 (supp.)), exclusive jurisdiction over all offenses committed by children under the age of eighteen. State v. Lemelin, 101 N.H. 404, 144 A.2d 916. However, under section 21 if 'the offense complained of constitutes a felony or would amount to a felony in the case of an a......
-
State v. Smith
...as to prevent attachment of the stigma of a criminal by reason of conduct resulting from immature judgment." State v. Lemelin, 101 N.H. 404, 406, 144 A.2d 916, 918 (1958) (citations omitted); see also RSA 169-B:1, II (Supp.1983) (purpose of chapter is "to remove from a minor committing a de......