Resource Library
Principle 3: Adolescents develop at different rates socially, emotionally, physically, & cognitively
This is the third in a 7-part training video series for juvenile and family court judges on concepts of adolescent development. In this video, Dr. Antoinette Kavanaugh explains the science behind adolescent development and how it impacts youth decision-making.
This is the fourth in a 7-part training video series for juvenile and family court judges on concepts of adolescent development. In this video, Dr. Antoinette Kavanaugh discusses how prior traumatic experiences may influence how young people interact with others and their environment.
This is the second of a 7-part training video series for juvenile and family court judges on concepts of adolescent development. In this video, Judge Ernestine S. Gray discusses how developmental concepts argue against harsher treatment of young people.
This is the first in a 7-part training video series for juvenile and family court judges on concepts of adolescent development. This video includes the introduction, followed by Judge Karen Ashby discussing the U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence relevant to adolescent development.
New England Patriot Devin McCourty and Players Coalition team up with the National Juvenile Defender Center to raise awareness that far too many young people in juvenile court don’t ever get lawyers.
“What we know is that when access to justice depends on a child’s ability to pay for their own defense, the disparities of class, race, and ethnicity are magnified.”
On January 30th, 2019, the Players Coalition Charitable Foundation unveiled its 2019 plan to impact racial and social inequality and also announced its 2018-19 support of six national non-profit organizations at a press conference. Players Coalition Co-Founders Anquan Boldin and Malcolm Jenkins presented the Coalition’s direction for the next year. At the press conference, NJDC…
NJDC Executive Director, Mary Ann Scali and NJDC Gault Fellow, Aneesa Khan, host a webinar on decreasing the pretrial detention of young people in the juvenile justice system. Presenters review juvenile cash bail laws and discuss a national snapshot of states where cash bail is being used to detain rather than release youth. The webinar…
Kristina Kersey, Assistant Deputy at the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender discusses the importance of juvenile defense training and NJDC
Investing in young people by becoming a lawyer. “I had seen the kind of treatment that children received when they went to juvenile court… and I decided that I wanted to try and help people by becoming a public defender.” – NYU School of Law’s Vice Dean and NJDC Board Member, Randy Hertz Reimagine Juvenil…
Executive Director, Mary Ann Scali at John Jay College on Young People, Justice, and Defending Children
This checklist can be used to assess the presence of constitutional violations throughout the course of a client’s case. Please refer to the National Youth Defense Systems Standards and their accompanying User Guide for litigation strategies to challenge potential constitutional violations noted in this checklist.
This User Guide provides advocates with a step-by-step outline of how to actualize the vision of the National Youth Defense System Standards to equip and invest in youth defense teams to fight for the liberation of all youth. The User Guide outlines constitutional rights detailed in the System Standards, provides a checklist to assess the…
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Pemiscot County, Division I Thirty-Fourth Judicial Circuit, Pemiscot County No. 18PE-JU00022 The Honorable W. Keith Currie, Judge
The work described herein articulates a way forward for the NIH to continue to improve youth mental health and to reduce YMHD through supporting rigorous, impactful research. However, the urgency of the youth mental health crisis and YMHD is so pressing that many NIH ICOs have already begun this important work, particularly through supporting research.…
This report examines racial disparities, policing landscapes, and budgets in twelve jurisdictions across the country, comparing the city and county spending priorities with those of community organizations and their members. While many community members, supported by research and established best practices, assert that increased spending on police do not make them safer, cities and counties…
This report presents the evolution of the second look movement, which started with ensuring compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Graham v. Florida (2010) and Miller v. Alabama (2012) on the constitutionality of juvenile life without parole (“JLWOP”) sentences.12 This reform has more recently expanded to other types of sentences and populations, such…
The Utah assessment is the 29th statewide assessment of youth defense delivery systems the Gault Center has conducted. These assessments gather information and data about the structure and funding of defense systems and examine whether youth receive counsel at all critical stages, the timing of appointments, waiver of counsel, youth defense resource allocation, supervision and…
This article calls for the categorical exclusion of young children from juvenile court jurisdiction as a pathway toward the abolition of the juvenile legal system in its current form. This article highlights the landscape of age-based jurisdictional boundaries across the country: 24 states have no minimum age of arrest and prosecution, while 18 states have…
A concentration of a few states has unevenly complied with Miller and the possibility of resentencing provided by Montgomery. Some states have refused to comply at all. This uneven implementation of the Miller decision has a particularly profound impact on racial disparities among those serving JLWOP. An analysis of those deemed worth protecting from JLWOP…
