Sec. 486 Penal Law a. Improper guardianship (peculiar in that the child was arraigned for the offense of his guardians). b. Disorderly or ungovernable child (on complaint of parents or guardian). Sec. 720 Penal Law “Any person who shall by an offensive or disorderly act or language, annoy or interfere with any person in any place or with the passengers of any public stage, railroad car, ferry boat, or other public conveyance, ... shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.” Sec. 43 Penal Law A person who commits “any act which seriously injures the person or property of another, or which seriously disturbs or endangers the public peace or health, or which openly outrages public decency, for which no other punishment is expressly prescribed by this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor.” Sec. 1310 Penal Law a. Petty Larceny. b. Grand Larceny. Sec. 405 Penal Law Burglary and Unlawful Entry. Sec. 242 Penal Law Assault. Sec. 1610 Penal Law Peddling without License. Sec. 1990 Penal Law “Riding on freight trains; boarding cars in motion; obstructing passage of car.” Sec. 2120 Robbery.
Besides the violations of the penal law, violations of the compulsory education law and of the child labor law are frequently the ground of complaint.
The list of offenses with which our special group of 294 boys was charged agrees in the main with those given above. The list of court charges[24] according to the number of arrests for each is given herewith for the whole group of 463 arrests.
| Violation of compulsory education law | 29 |
| Improper guardianship | 60 |
| (According to Penal Law, Sec. 486.) | |
| Ungovernable child | 12 |
| Disorderly child | 4 |
| Violation of child labor law | 10 |
| In danger of being morally depraved | 1 |
| Disorderly conduct | 186 |
| (According to Penal Law, Sec. 720.) | |
| Injury or destruction to property | 15 |
| Injuring railroad and appurtenances | 1 |
| Petty larceny | 43 |
| (According to Penal Law, Sec. 1298.) | |
| Grand larceny | 12 |
| (According to Penal Law, Sec. 1296.) | |
| Robbery | 5 |
| (According to Penal Law, Sec. 2124) | |
| Burglary | 38 |
| (According to Penal Law, Sec. 404.) | |
| Riding on freight train | 3 |
| (According to Penal Law, Sec. 1990.) | |
| Assault | 15 |
| (According to Penal Law, Sec. 242-246.) | |
| Unknown | 31 |
| Total | 465 |
| Deducting duplicates[25] | 2 |
| Total | 463 |
A Ball Game Near the Docks
“Obstructing Traffic” on Twelfth Avenue]
As early as 1892, a law was passed permitting the separate trial of children in New York City, but it was not until September, 1902, that a separate court was established in Manhattan in a building of its own at the corner of Third Avenue and Eleventh Street.[26] The children’s court, including all those sitting in the various boroughs of Greater New York, is called the Children’s Part of the Court of Special Sessions. The court sits daily until the calendar is cleared.[27] The cases before the court had to be rushed through with great speed. In 1909, over 11,000 cases were handled by the Manhattan court. This allowed the judge an average of five minutes for a trial, including the most serious and perplexing.[28]
The court building, which was once the headquarters of the Department of Corrections, has long been congested, inconvenient, dingy, and unsanitary.[29] The room where the hearing is given is always crowded and noisy.