Part 4, Epilogue, Chapter 18, A Year Later, Another Day In Court Summary and Analysis

Chapter 18 begins a year later. Dorn is still on the bench pushing reform, though the court files of those who come through his court room get thicker every day. After being in adult court "exile" for a year, Dorn returns to a harder job with a shaken system though juvenile crime has leveled off. Fear of the future leads the people to pass laws to limit or eliminate juvenile court jurisdiction all over the country; they want to eliminate cases like Ronald Duncan.

However, Humes argues, no one will be satisfied with the results. Budgets are too small and the LA County Juvenile Courthouse can't even pay to repair its buildings. Many offenders are still being released and social programs aimed at the...