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When Individual Differences Demand Equal Treatment: An Equal Rights Approach To The Special Needs Of Girls In The Juvenile Justice System, Francine Sherman, Marsha L. Levick

Francine T. Sherman

This article argues that disparities girls face in the juvenile justice system can be remedied by employing equal rights analysis including the federal Equal Protection Clause, state Equal Rights Amendments, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Unlike the adult prison context, in which equal protection and Title IX have had limited success, the juvenile justice system is premised on individualized rehabilitative justice. Where differences between male and female offenders have undermined equal rights challenges in the adult arena, in the juvenile justice system differences among individual youth are acknowledged, and dispositions are driven by those individual needs. …