摘要： 少年司法是美国法律制度的重要组成部分，有其独立程序和法律理念。自上个世纪六十年代以来，少年法庭受到来自自由主义和保守主义的批评。自由主义认为，少年法庭的法官经常以一种任意的、歧视的、甚至是专制的方式行使着家长式的权威；保守主义则认为少年法庭过于仁慈，尤其是对实施暴力犯罪和反复实施犯罪的违法者。来自两方面的挑战，对美国少年司法制度的改革产生了很大影响，并一直延续到现在。

关键词: 美国少年司法 , 少年法院 , 法律改革

Abstract: In the United States，juvenile justice is primarily the responsibility of a specialized juvenile court with unique procedures and jurisprudence．Since the 1960s，the operation of juvenile court has been relentlessly attacked by civil libertarian liberals as well as by law and order conservatives．Liberals charged that juvenile court judges often exercised their paternalistic authority in an arbitrary，discriminatory and even authoritarian way．Conservatives criticized the court for being too lenient，especially on violent and repeat offenders．Challenges from both aspects had promoted the legal reform on the U．S．juvenile justice．

Key words: U．S．juvenile justice, juvenile court, legal reform