Law Commons^™

The Supreme Court Rolls Back The Clock For Juvenile Justice, Jack Lyons

GGU Law Review Blog

For decades, the Supreme Court has protected juveniles from harsh punishments, such as mandatory life without parole (LWOP), by acknowledging that children are different and must be sentenced accordingly. The developmental differences in children make it nearly impossible to determine that a child who commits a crime is beyond hope for rehabilitation. Jones v. Mississippi turned back the clock on juvenile justice by holding that sentencers need not find a child is “permanently incorrigible” before sentencing them to life without parole.

Set Up To Fail: Youth Probation Conditions As A Driver Of Incarceration, Jyoti Nanda

Publications

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 where young people remain at home under the supervision of a youth probation officer and are required to adhere to probation conditions, rules, and court-ordered conditions. The orders rely on standardized terms on youth probation condition forms. This is the first scholarly Article to excavate …

Remembering California’S History In Youth Corrections, Sadie Minjares Odom

GGU Law Review Blog

California Governor Gavin Newson’s 2021-22 state budget sets forth plans to permanently close the California’s Division of Juvenile Justice and transition any children in the state’s care to the counties who committed them. On September 30, 2020, California lawmakers passed SB 823, the pillar of this transition. As the closure of the state-run juvenile correctional system marks a new journey for California’s youth, the state’s gloomy history in youth corrections looms overhead.

Web Of Incarceration: School-Based Probation, Jyoti Nanda

Publications

Close to three quarters of a million cases flow through the United States’ juvenile justice system annually. Juvenile probation is the most commonly utilized form of sentencing, yet juvenile probation has not been the focus of sustained research or analysis. This Article focuses on School-Based Probation, a type of juvenile probation program that was created to enroll youth before a criminal charge has been filed. Described by its proponents as a “voluntarily probation” program, pre-delinquent, or “at-risk,” youth are identified by on-site school probation officers and enrolled in a supervised program. Deemed to be problematic by many jurisdictions, this Article …

Reimagining Criminal Justice: Black And Brown Youthin Gang Database Are Guilty Until Proven Innocent, Irish Tapia

Reimagining Criminal Justice

Young men of color growing up across this nation face a hurdle most of us will never have to imagine. If a student of color is not diverted to the criminal justice system, suspended or expelled, they might nonetheless be labeled and marked as having gang affliations, based solely on the discretion of local law enforcement.This ‘identity’ has significant long-term consequences. The “shared gang database” is real. Individuals named in the database do not have to agree to be listed, and they also do not have control over getting off it. A young man of color in a public school, …

Children In Foster Care: The Odds Are Against Them, Shawna Doughman

GGU Law Review Blog

Most child welfare reports that lead to removal of children from their homes are filed for neglect rather than abuse. Often, their parents want to take care of them, but are failing for one reason, or for many. Nonetheless, the lion’s share of the $30 billion annual budget of state and federal child welfare funding goes overwhelmingly to foster care and adoption services which remove the children from their parents, instead of to helping those families care for their own children.

THE S

Lgbtq Youth Homelessness And Discrimination In The Child Welfare System, Markie Flores

Poverty Law Conference & Symposium

Despite the existence of LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws, LGBTQ youth are still being discriminated against within the foster care system. The primary cause of all youth homelessness is family conflict, and LGBTQ youth are more susceptible to family conflict when they come out to their parents. The Williams Institute surveyed 354 agencies throughout the United States who work with LGBTQ homeless populations and found that 68% of clients have experienced family rejection. The True Colors Fund notes that more than 1 in 4 LGBTQ teens are forced to leave their homes after coming out to their parents. LGBTQ youth also face …

The Construction And Criminalization Of Disability In School Incarceration, Jyoti Nanda

Publications

This Article explores how race functions to ascribe and criminalize disability. It posits that for White students in wealthy schools, disabilities or perceived disabilities are often viewed as medical conditions and treated with care and resources. For students of color, however, the construction of disability (if it exists) may be a criminalized condition that is treated as warranting punishment and segregated classrooms, possibly leading to juvenile justice system involvement. Providing a review of the K-12 disability legal regimes, this Article maps how the process of identifying a student with a disability happens in a hypercriminalized school setting. The Article argues …

Child Obesity, School Food Environments And The Best Interests Of The Child, Benedetta Faedi Duramy

Publications

This article is about child obesity, school food, and the key role schools can play in creating environments that can enhance children’s eating patterns and lifestyle behaviours and, thus, can support the realization of children’s best interest in relation to food and health. In contrast to the traditional approach that frames the obesity problem as a personal issue or as a matter of parental responsibility, this article argues that the prevention of child obesity should be interpreted as a State obligation under both international and domestic laws. Analysis turns to the example of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, adopted in …

Childhood Obesity And Positive Obligations: A Child Rights-Based Approach, Benedetta Faedi Duramy

Publications

Childhood obesity is one of the most serious current public health challenges. Its prevalence has increased at an alarming rate. The World Health Organization estimated that in 2016 the global number of overweight children under the age of five was over 41 million. Although there is widespread concern about the rising rates of childhood obesity, there is not as much consensus on how to address the problem. Obesity has been mostly considered either a matter of personal responsibility or of parental responsibility when it concerns children. Inadequate attention has been given instead to the obligations borne by States to prevent …

Blind Discretion: Girls Of Color & Delinquency In The Juvenile Justice System, Jyoti Nanda

Publications

The juvenile justice system was designed to empower its decisionmakers with a wide grant of discretion in hopes of better addressing youth in a more individualistic and holistic, and therefore more effective, manner. Unfortunately for girls of color in the system, this discretionary charter given to police, probation officers, and especially judges has operated without sufficiently acknowledging and addressing their unique position. Indeed, the dearth of adequate gender/race intersectional analysis in the research and the stark absence of significant system tools directed at the specific characteristics of and circumstances faced by girls of color have tracked alarming trends such as …

Children Aren't Adults, Even When They Kill, Reichi Lee

Publications

No abstract provided.

A Unique Bench, A Common Code: Evaluating Judicial Ethics In Juvenile Court, Michele Benedetto Neitz

Publications

Recent cases involving ethical scandals on the juvenile court bench have caught the interest of legal scholars, judges, practitioners, and the public. This article proposes a new theoretical framework for assessing these problems and articulates a series of vital ethical reforms.

Despite their distinct role in an atypical court, juvenile court judges are not subject to unique ethical standards. Most jurisdictions have adopted the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct as the ethical code guiding juvenile court judges. However, this Model Code, intended to apply to any person in a decision-making capacity, was created for a more conventional type of …

Juveniles Who Commit Sex Offenses Against Minors, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

The Key To Successful Independence: State-Funded Postsecondary Educational Assistance For Emancipated Foster Youth, Michele Benedetto Neitz

Publications

As individuals in state custody, children accepted into the foster care system have a substantive due process right to be free from harm. This due process right imposes an affirmative duty on states to protect foster youth and properly prepare them for emancipation. At the age of eighteen in most jurisdictions, youth emancipate from state custody into adulthood with the hope of successful independence. In reality, a large proportion of public
wards actually emancipate into homelessness, unemployment, and incarceration.

The public is increasingly recognizing the plight of youth aging out of foster care, and state and federal legislatures are responding …

The Educational Success Of Homeless Youth In California: Challenges And Solutions, California Research Bureau

California Agencies

The California Research Bureau (CRB), in participation with the California Council on Youth Relations (CCYR), and with support from The California Wellness Foundation, has been conducting a major research and policy initiative to bring attention to the issues facing homeless youth in California. These include lack of shelter and educational opportunities, health and mental health needs, and problematic interaction with law enforcement agencies and the courts.

Representing David: When Best Practices Aren't And Natural Supports Really Are, Stephen A. Rosenbaum

Publications

As California marks the 30-year anniversary of the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, there is more legal support and social acceptance than ever for including individuals with developmental disabilities in our daily lives — i.e., in community-based settings. Yet, the day-to-day decisions are not necessarily easier. Informed parents and professional advocates are meant to digest the latest literature, absorb the best practices, fight the fights, rise above the loneliness, and travel the correct path in search for services and support. In this article, I highlight the peculiar difficulties posed for professionals who advocate on behalf of children with disabilities, using …

An Ounce Of Prevention: A Foster Youth's Substantive Due Process Right To Proper Preparation For Emancipation, Michele Benedetto Neitz

Publications

Part I of this article considers the current challenges facing youth preparing to leave foster care. Youth are failing to receive adequate preparation services while still in the custody of the government. Consequently, emancipated youth are disproportionately represented in homeless, unemployed, uneducated, and incarcerated populations. Part II examines the specific constitutional rights of youth in foster care. As persons in a custodial relationship with the government, foster youth have a substantive due process right to be free from physical and emotional harm. This protection includes services and training as required to “meet the basic needs” of a child. Emancipation preparation …

Trends In The Murder Of Juveniles: 1980-2000, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Successful Program Implementation: Lessons From Blueprints, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Prostitution Of Juveniles: Patterns From Nibrs, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Detection And Prevalence Of Substance Use Among Juvenile Detainees, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Help For Youths Leaving Foster Care, Michele Benedetto Neitz

Publications

No abstract provided.

Schiff-Cárdenas Crime Prevention Act Of 2000 (Ab 1913): Reports From Counties On Implementation, Assembly Select Committee On Juvenile Justice

California Assembly

No abstract provided.

Female Gangs: A Focus On Research, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Keeping Children Safe: Ojjdp's Child Protection Division, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Choosing And Using Child Victimization Questionnaires, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Anticipating Space Needs In Juvenile Detention And Correctional Facilities, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Four Restorative Conferencing Models, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

The Decline In Child Sexual Abuse Cases, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.