Supreme Court and Juvenile Justice

• NCJ Number: 169856
• Author(s): C P Manfredi
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 271 pages
• Sale Source: University Press of Kansas
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This book focuses on how the U.S. Supreme Court brought the juvenile court system under constitutional control.

Abstract

The author first provides a definition of institutional reform litigation; focuses on the origins of such litigation, how it is conducted, and its impact; and places the case study of constitutional domestication within the general context of the due-process revolution of the 1960's and 1970's. The first chapter also examines the political and social environment in which "Gault" and its associated case arose. Chapter 2 discusses the founding principles of juvenile courts, the decline of the rehabilitative ideal underlying juvenile justice, and the emergence of a juvenile court reform movement after World War II. The third chapter examines the juvenile justice case that preceded "Gault" in the Supreme Court: Kent v. United States (1966). Chapter 4 deals with the legal path that led the Gault family to the Supreme Court by examining the law and policy context of juvenile justice in Arizona, the character and history of Gerald Gault's involvement with juvenile court authorities, the juvenile court proceedings to which he was subjected, appellate proceedings in the State, and preparations for taking the case to the Supreme Court. Chapter 5 examines the development of briefs on all aspects of the case, before analyzing the various opinions issued in "Gault." Attention then shifts in chapter 6 to juvenile-procedure cases decided by the Court after 1967, with emphasis on In re Winship (1970). This is followed by a chapter that assesses the Supreme Court's impact on juvenile justice policy by focusing on the short-term implementation of procedural reform and on the legislative reforms that followed its decisions. The concluding chapter reflects on the general lessons concerning the impact of constitutional decisions on policy that might be drawn from this episode of institutional reform. Chapter notes, a 220-item bibliography, and a subject index