Practice Tool
Youth defender checklist on remote hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This document, developed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and NJDC, is a supplement to the original checklist and is focused specifically on advocating for the safety and well-being of transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex (TGNCI) young people housed in secure and non-secure facilities. TGNCI young people are vulnerable to the same harms…
Youth in detention are removed from settings that matter: their homes, schools, and communities. Without those supports, children develop higher rates of depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions, and they lose access to educational opportunities. Once released, youth who spent time behind bars are more likely to disengage from school and become system-involved in…
As a defender, it is important to consider how trauma and mental illness may have played a role in the behaviors that led a young person to become your client. This publication outlines five points to guide your advocacy.
As you move forward with your life after being involved in the juvenile court system, this guide provides information about what obstacles may lie ahead and how to prepare yourself. The court and police paperwork about your case is called your “juvenile record.” This record can affect your life for years to come. But you…
As you move forward with your life after being involved in the juvenile court system, this guide provides information about what obstacles may lie ahead and how to prepare yourself. The court and police paperwork about your case is called your “juvenile record.” This record can affect your life for years to come. But you…
These guidelines are designed to assist defenders in assessing their advocacy at the traditional, threepart initial hearings held in most jurisdictions: arraignment, the probable cause determination, and the detention hearing. In some jurisdictions, these are all collapsed into a single hearing. Because many jurisdictions still allow children to waive their right to counsel and/or plead…
The use of cash bail in the criminal legal system—as one option of conditional release—was established for the sole purpose of ensuring the accused’s presence in court. However, when the bail amount is set at a figure higher than the amount reasonably calculated to fulfill this purpose, it is deemed excessive under the Eighth Amendment.…
As you move forward with your life after being involved in the juvenile court system, this guide provides information about what obstacles may lay ahead and how to prepare yourself. The court paperwork about your case is called your “juvenile record.” This record can affect your life for years to come. But you can still…
As you move forward with your life after being involved in the juvenile court system, this guide provides information about what obstacles may lay ahead and how to prepare yourself. The court and police paperwork about your case is called your “juvenile record.” This record can affect your life for years to come. But you…
As you move forward with your life after being involved in the juvenile court system, this guide provides information about what obstacles may lay ahead and how to prepare yourself. The court and police paperwork about your case is called your “juvenile record.” This record can affect your life for years to come. But you…
Including arrests, dismissed petitions, and adjudications – can create long-term barriers to a young person’s employment, housing, and educational opportunities. Juvenile defenders can break down these barriers by discussing these consequences with their clients, mitigating potential harms, and building pathways to success. Understanding collateral consequences is critical to every plea or diversion negotiation, could impact…
As you begin to move forward with your life after being involved in the juvenile court system, this guide provides information about what obstacles lay ahead and how to prepare yourself. The court and police paperwork about your case is called your “juvenile record.” This record can affect your life for years to come. But…
This guide is designed to provide necessary information to juvenile defenders representing children whose juvenile court involvement may trigger immigration consequences. Although a finding of delinquency is not a “conviction” for purposes of immigration (and, thus, does not have the same dire consequences as a conviction), a juvenile arrest, charge, or adjudication may nonetheless trigger…
As you begin to move forward with your life after being involved in the juvenile court system, this guide provides information about what obstacles lay ahead and how to prepare yourself for them. The court and police paperwork about your case are called your “juvenile record.” This record can affect your life for years to…