The Due Process Revolution in Juvenile Court—New York and the Early Years after Gault
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Description
In most juvenile courtrooms before Gault, no lawyers appeared; neither prosecutors nor defense counsel. Probation officers or other court personnel filed the petition or other document that placed the matter on the court's docket. Focusing solely on the procedural flaws of juvenile justice was a sound strategy, deliberately employed by Norman Dorsen, the American Civil Liberties lawyer who argued Gault. Charles Schinitsky's ultimate conclusion about Children's Court was straightforward: it was built on the premise that a kid is not a full individual with constitutional rights. In New York City, an office was established to represent children in the newly created Family Court. It would have the responsibility of being the attorney of record on behalf of all indigent accused juvenile delinquents. Thus, by 1976, some of the bloom of Gault was beginning to fade in New York. The retrenchment in the Supreme Court in Schall was hardly the first blow to juvenile justice advancement in the post-Gault era.
Source Publication
Rights, Race, and Reform: 50 Years of Child Advocacy in the Juvenile Justice System
Source Editors/Authors
Kristin Henning, Laura Cohen, Ellen Marrus
Publication Date
2018
Recommended Citation
Guggenheim, Martin, "The Due Process Revolution in Juvenile Court—New York and the Early Years after Gault" (2018). Faculty Chapters. 1262.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/1262
