Resource Library
Creates a case for holding states liable for abdicating their duty to ensure that all children have zealous representation.
School-based arrests have long made up a substantial number of cases in the juvenile legal system. As a result, youth defenders often represent clients who have been seized, searched, or interrogated on school grounds. This guide provides a general overview of the law governing school seizures, searches, and interrogations and practice tips for challenging evidence…
Young people and their families are routinely assessed fees, fines, and other costs in delinquency matters. These financial assessments are often ordered without an ability-to-pay analysis by the court. A young person’s inability to pay can lead to long-lasting consequences, increased recidivism, and youth and their families having to choose between paying fees or buying…
The goal of this guide is to give you helpful information about how your juvenile record might impact you as you move forward in your life. If you have ever been arrested under the age of 18, the police and court may create a file about your case, which is part of your “juvenile record.”…
Provides a framework for developing effective youth defense systems.
When the Gault Center launched the Campaign Against Indiscriminate Juvenile Shackling in 2014, only 13 states had legislation, court rules, or caselaw limiting indiscriminate shackling in juvenile court. Today, 39 states, DC, and Puerto Rico limit or prohibit the indiscriminate shackling of children, while just 11 states do not. Feedback from people in jurisdictions that…
In 2014, only 13 states had legislation, court rules, or caselaw limiting indiscriminate shackling in juvenile court. Today, 39 states, DC, and Puerto Rico limit or prohibit the indiscriminate shackling of children, while just 11 states do not. This one-pager highlights the progress made across the country from 2014-2024 and the harms of indiscriminate shackling.
Courtesy of Dr. Antoinette Kavanaugh
Courtesy of Dr. Antoinette Kavanaugh
The Gault Ctr. (October 2023). This resource provides an overview of the constitutional and federal laws that are implicated when young people are placed in juvenile or adult facilities and includes concrete examples of common violations. This resource offers an introduction for youth defenders on how to spot federal and constitutional violations based on conditions…
I.N. respectfully requests that this Court dismiss the above-captioned matter with prejudice pursuant to the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Maine, on the grounds that the State has violated I.N.’s right to a speedy trial by failing to conduct a competency evaluation within twenty-one days of the Court’s order, as is required by…
Evaluations of juvenile adjudicative competence (AC) are frequently ordered, yet significant gaps remain in the field’s understanding of referred youth. Using a sample of 277 court-ordered evaluations of juvenile AC, this study provides further support for the relationship of age and intelligence with competence, but other factors remain inconsistent. In the current study, developmental immaturity…
Youth probation is the most common form of punishment for youth in the United States criminal legal system, with nearly a quarter of a million youth currently under supervision. Yet the role youth probation conditions play in the incarceration of youth has not been the focus of legal scholarship. Youth probation is a court-imposed intervention…
Much the impetus for the current debate about bias in psychological testing is based on well-documented, consistent, and substantive differences between IQ scores of Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks in the U.S.A. Various explanations are offered for these differences including the idea that IQ tests are inherently biased against Blacks, Hispanics, and possibly other ethnics groups,…
Limited Justice: An Assessment of Access to and Quality of Juvenile Defense Counsel in Kansas (2020)
This assessment of access to counsel and quality of representation for Kansas youth is part of a nationwide effort to systematically review and provide information about the provision of defense counsel in delinquency proceedings. The purpose of a state assessment is to provide policymakers, legislators, defense leadership, and other stakeholders with a thorough understanding of…
The purpose of a state assessment is to provide policymakers, legislators, defense leadership, and other stakeholders with a thorough understanding of children’s access to counsel in the state, to identify structural and systemic barriers that impede effective representation of children, to analyze how fee and cost structures inhibit young people’s access to justice, to highlight…
This assessment of access to counsel and quality of representation for New Hampshire’s youth is part of a nationwide effort to systematically review and provide information about the provision of defense counsel in delinquency proceedings. The purpose of a state assessment is to provide policymakers, legislators, defense leadership, and other stakeholders with a thorough understanding…
This assessment report provides an overview of Michigan’s system of juvenile defense. It examines the extent to which youth in delinquency court are provided with well-qualified and effective counsel at all critical stages and addresses systemic barriers that may impede effective representation and hamper due process and equal protection of the law. It measures structure,…
As part of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change initiative, Larson and Grisso (2011) authored a document entitled Developing Statutes for Competence to Stand Trial in Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings: A Guide for Lawmakers. This guide outlines legal components and best practice recommendations that legislators might consider when creating or revising…
Juvenile competency to stand trial has historically involved the intrinsic abilities of a juvenile to understand and appreciate the nature of the proceeding against the juvenile and the juvenile’s ability to assist in his/her defense and communicate effectively with defense counsel. The literature has not addressed the recursive systemic competency process between the juvenile, defense…
This brief highlights the United States Supreme Court’s most important language in landmark cases about young people’s rights. These quotes can be used to bolster the arguments and pleadings of juvenile defense attorneys and advocates as they defend youth caught in the legal system.
Youth facing time in both secure and non-secure facilities need vigilant advocates who can monitor the conditions of these facilities, and can either prevent the young person’s placement, limit the young person’s length of time in placement, and/or intervene on the young person’s behalf while they are at the placement. Juvenile defenders are ethically bound…