The american juvenile justice system is the primary system used to handle minors who are convicted of criminal offenses the system is composed of a federal and many separate state territorial and local jurisdictions with states and the federal government sharing sovereign police power under the common authority of the united states constitution the juvenile justice system intervenes in delinquent behavior through police court and correctional involvement with the goal of rehabilitation. Juvenile justice is nothing but how the youth under the age of 18 committing a crime or illegal activities should be punished way differently from the adults who have attained the age of majority in recent times the number of minors committing crime is increasing very rapidly. Together with national and state partners we are committed to ending juvenile life without parole sentences so that no young person is sentenced to die in prison we are also working to end the use of solitary confinement for all young people in juvenile facilities and in adult jails and prisons. American juvenile justice is a definitive volume for courses on the criminology and policy analysis of adolescence the focus is on the principles and policy of a separate and distinct system of juvenile justice