Juvenile Rights

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JUVENILE RIGHTS

THE BEGINNING OF JUVENILE RIGHTS: Prior to 1967, children were not affordedmany of the rights afforded to adults. However, in 1967, a 15-year-old Gerald FrancisGault was taken into custody for allegedly making a "lewd or indecent" telephone call to

his neighbor Mrs. Ora Cook.

According to Gault, it was his friend Ronald Lewis who was at this house who made thetelephone call. The court sentenced him to the State Industrial School until the age of21. The alleged victim was not present any the court proceedings and the juvenile courtrelied on hearsay evidence to convict the child. At the time Arizona, law did not permitany appeals in a juvenile case. The McGhee Gila County Superior Court dismissed thehabeus corpus writ and an appeal followed. The bases for the appeal were as follows:

First Grounds for Appeal : (1) the Arizona Juvenile Code was unconstitutional becauseit (a) did not require that either the accused Gerald Francis Gault or his parents be

notified of the specific chargesagainst him; (b) did not require that his parents beproperly notified of the hearings; and (c) did not allow any juvenile appealof juvenilecourt decisions in Arizona.

Second Grounds for Appeal: (2) . the Gila County Juvenile Court's actions constitued adenial of due process becuase of (a) the lack of notice of the charges against Gault orof the juvenile court proceedings; (b) the court's failure to inform the Gaults of their rightto a lawyer, right to confront an accuser, and right to remain silent; (c) the admission of"unsworn hearsay testimony"; and (d) the lack of any records of the proceedings.

The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

In a landmark decision, In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967), the United States SupremeCourt established that children under the fourteenth amendment accused of crimes in adelinquency proceeding must be given many of the same due process rights as adultssuch as the right to timely notification of charges, the right to confront witnesses, theright against self-incrimination, and the right to counsel.

IC 31-32-2Juvenile Rights in Delinquency Proceedings

The Constitutional guarantees and procedural safeguards in place for the accused juvenile are essentiallythe same as for an adult defendant, except that all matters in Juvenile Court are tried before the Court,without a jury. In a delinquency proceeding, the juvenile has the following rights:

(1) to know the nature of the allegations against the juvenile;

(2) to be represented by counsel;

(3) to have a speedy trial;
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(4) to confront witnesses against him;

(5) to cross-examine witnesses against him;

(6) to obtain witnesses or tangible evidence by compulsory process;

(7) to introduce evidence on his own behalf;

(8) to refrain from testifying against himself;

(9) to have the State of Indiana by the Prosecuting Attorney prove beyond a reasonable doubt that hecommitted the delinquent act charged.

The child and the parent must be informed of these rights at the Detention Hearing or the Initial Hearing,whichever occurs first.IC 31-37-12-5

The Juvenile Court can appoint an attorney (Public Defender) to represent the juvenile, without any costto the juvenile, if the juvenile desires one. If the court does allow a Public Defender, at the time of

disposition the court may require the parents to reimburse the county for all or part of the costs for legalrepresentation.

A juvenile can waive his right to an attorney if that waiver is joined by his/her custodial parent, guardian,or custodian. The juvenile's parent, guardian, or custodian must have no adverse interest, and ameaningful consultation must be afforded before a waiver is effective.IC 31-32-5

There are no jury trials in Juvenile Court and the juvenile has no jury trial rights. All trials (Fact-findingHearings) are conducted by the Judge, who makes the ultimate determination of whether a delinquent acthas been committed, as well as the appropriate punishment.IC 31-32-6-7

Differences Between Juvenile and Adult Court

In most places, there are differences in terminology in juvenile court. For example:

Adult Minor

Bail Hearing Detention Hearing

Trial Fact-Finding Hearing

Complaint or Indictment Petition

Defendant Respondent

Verdict Adjudication

Guilty Delinquent or Involved
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In addition, there are some really big differences in procedure. In a juvenile case, you normally dont get ajury. Instead, the judge alone decides both whether youve broken the law and what your punishment willbe. Another difference is that bail is generally not allowed for minors. To get out of custody beforeadjudication, the minor will have to prove that shes neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community.(You can use the strategies listed inPreparing for a Bail Hearing). Finally, the courtroom is usuallyclosed to the general public (including the media) in a juvenile case.

Ironically, for smaller offenses, the consequences for minors may be worse than for adults. Minors tend tobe placed on probation for longer periods than adults, and the conditions of their probation are usuallymore numerous and obnoxious, with additions such as curfews, getting adequate grades, behavingrespectfully to parents, etc.

2On the other hand, minors who are found delinquent in serious cases and

incarcerated may be better off, since their sentences will typically end in their early twenties; whereas anadult might get life in prison.

Sometimes minors are tried in adult court, typically in cases involving very serious crimes such as rape ormurder. This usually happens to somewhat older minors, aged thirteen to seventeen.

1. The complaint or indictment is the document on which the charges against the defendant are specified.2. The policy reason for this is that the courts have more interest in rehabilitating minors than adults, so they like to give themselves plenty fo

time and leverage to do it, hence lengthy probation with lots of conditions.
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Documents

Juvenile Rights