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Full-Text Articles in Juvenile Law

Second Chances: Why Michigan Should Categorically Prohibit The Sentence Of Juvenile Life Without Parole, Richard Zhao Apr 2022

Second Chances: Why Michigan Should Categorically Prohibit The Sentence Of Juvenile Life Without Parole, Richard Zhao

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The United States is the only country in the world that sentences children to die in prison. This practice, known as juvenile life without parole (JLWOP), is condemned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yet twenty-five states still permit the sentence, and Michigan houses one of the nation’s largest JLWOP populations. Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s ban on some forms of JLWOP, more must be done to further limit the use of this sentence. The current JLWOP sentencing scheme is untenable, imposes a significant financial burden on taxpayers, and perpetuates racial inequality. This Note explores …


Eighteen Is Not A Magic Number: Why The Eighth Amendment Requires Protection For Youth Aged Eighteen To Twenty-Five, Tirza A. Mullin Jan 2020

Eighteen Is Not A Magic Number: Why The Eighth Amendment Requires Protection For Youth Aged Eighteen To Twenty-Five, Tirza A. Mullin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Eighth Amendment protects a criminal defendant’s right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. This Note argues that any punishment of eighteen- to twenty-five-year-olds is cruel and unusual without considering their youthfulness at every stage of the criminal process, and that it is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment for these youths to be automatically treated as fully-developed adults. This Note will explore in depth how juveniles differ from adults, both socially and scientifically, and how the criminal justice system fails every youth aged eighteen- to twenty-five by subjecting them to criminal, rather than juvenile, court without considering their …


The New Unconstitutionality Of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration: Suspending The Presumption Of Constitutionality For Laws That Burden Juvenile Offenders, Spencer Klein Jun 2017

The New Unconstitutionality Of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration: Suspending The Presumption Of Constitutionality For Laws That Burden Juvenile Offenders, Spencer Klein

Michigan Law Review

In Smith v. Doe, the Supreme Court held that Alaska’s sex offender registration and notification statute did not constitute punishment and was therefore not susceptible to challenge under the Ex Post Facto Clause. In reaching that conclusion, the Court looked to the seven factors articulated in Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez. To evaluate those factors, the Court applied a presumption of constitutionality, conducting the sort of narrow factual inquiry characteristic of rational basis review. Since Smith, courts have disagreed as to whether sex offender laws are punitive when applied to juveniles, and the Supreme Court has not yet addressed …


A Solution To Michigan's Child Shackling Problem, Gabe Newland Sep 2014

A Solution To Michigan's Child Shackling Problem, Gabe Newland

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Detained children routinely appear before Michigan's juvenile courts shackled with handcuffs, leg irons, and belly chains. Once security officers bring a child to court in these shackles, the child usually remains in them for her hearing or trial. In Michigan, as in many other states, no statute or court rule requires the judge to decide whether shackles are necessary. This Essay argues that Michigan should pass legislation or amend state court rules to create a presumption against shackling children. Unless a child poses a substantial risk of flight or physical danger and less restrictive alternatives to shackling will not adequately …


Transforming Juvenile Justice: Making Doctrine Out Of Dicta In Graham V. Florida, Jason Zolle Sep 2013

Transforming Juvenile Justice: Making Doctrine Out Of Dicta In Graham V. Florida, Jason Zolle

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

In the late 1980s and 1990s, many state legislatures radically altered the way that their laws treated children accused of crimes. Responding to what was perceived of as an epidemic of juvenile violence, academics and policymakers began to think of child criminals as a "new breed" of incorrigible "superpredators." States responded by making it easier for prosecutors to try and sentence juveniles as adults, even making it mandatory in some circumstances. Yet in the past decade, the Supreme Court handed down four opinions that limit the states' ability to treat children as adults in the justice system. Roper v. Simmons …


When Sixteen Ain't So Sweet: Rethinking The Regulation Of Adolescent Sexuality, Nicole Phillis Jan 2011

When Sixteen Ain't So Sweet: Rethinking The Regulation Of Adolescent Sexuality, Nicole Phillis

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Legally speaking, sexual maturity poses a significant enough liberty interest for a minor to make medical decisions regarding contraceptive medicine or to choose motherhood without parental involvement, but not quite enough for her to obtain an abortion independently. The law incentivizes teenage motherhood by only granting decisional autonomy to those minors who choose to have a child; the minor female's right to procreate vests regardless of her individual maturity. The law discourages teenage abortions by using the choice to terminate a pregnancy to trigger a presumption of immaturity; the minor female's abortion right is pitted against personal autonomy via parental …


Parenting And Pregnant Students: An Evaluation Of The Implementation Of The Other Title Ix, Michelle Gough Jan 2011

Parenting And Pregnant Students: An Evaluation Of The Implementation Of The Other Title Ix, Michelle Gough

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits gender discrimination. Although pregnancy has been described as the "quintessential sex difference," Title IX's prohibition of gender discrimination in the context of parenting and pregnant students has often been left out of the discussion, and therefore the understanding, of the implementation of Title IX Regulations. The scholarship discussing the topic shows general agreement that the language and spirit of Title IX has not been given effect thus far by our schools or by some courts. This Article begins by looking to the Title IX regulations themselves and then to the research …


Kids Are Different, Stephen St.Vincent Sep 2010

Kids Are Different, Stephen St.Vincent

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The Supreme Court recently handed down its decision in Graham v. Florida. The case involved a juvenile, Graham, who was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted as an adult of a nonhomicidal crime. The offense, a home invasion robbery, was his second; the first was attempted robbery. Due to Florida's abolition of parole, the judge's imposition of a life sentence meant that Graham was constructively sentenced to life without parole for a nonhomicide crime. Graham challenged this sentence as unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Somewhat surprisingly, the Supreme Court invalidated Graham's sentence by a 6-3 majority. By a …


Still "Left In The Dark": The Confrontation Clause And Child Abuse Cases After Davis V. Washington, Anthony J. Franze, Jacob E. Smiles Jan 2006

Still "Left In The Dark": The Confrontation Clause And Child Abuse Cases After Davis V. Washington, Anthony J. Franze, Jacob E. Smiles

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

In his concurring opinion in Crawford v. Washington, Chief Justice Rehnquist criticized the majority for holding that the Confrontation Clause applies to “testimonial” statements but leaving for “another day” any effort to define sufficiently what “testimonial” means. Prosecutors and defendants, he said, “should not be left in the dark in this manner.” Over the next two years, both sides grappled with the meaning of testimonial, each gleaning import from sections of Crawford that seemingly proved their test was the right one. When the Court granted certiorari in Davis v. Washington and Hammon v. Indiana (hereinafter Davis), hopes were high that …


Minors As Medical Decision Makers: The Pretextual Reasoning Of The Court In The Abortion Cases, J. Shoshanna Ehrlich Jan 2000

Minors As Medical Decision Makers: The Pretextual Reasoning Of The Court In The Abortion Cases, J. Shoshanna Ehrlich

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

By examining the Court's failure to consider the allocation of authority between parents and children in the critical realm of medical decision making, this article exposes the irrationality of the Court's acceptance of limitations on the abortion rights of minors and reveals the pronatalist thrust of the parental involvement decisions. The article begins by looking at how the Roe Court characterized abortion as a medical decision, followed by a discussion about the medical decision-making rights of minors. Rooted in this medical paradigm, the article then turns to the parental involvement cases to examine the Court's failure to consider the medical …


Children's Rights And Family Autonomy In The South African Context: A Comment On Children's Rights Under The Final Constitution, Tshepo L. Mosikatsana Jan 1998

Children's Rights And Family Autonomy In The South African Context: A Comment On Children's Rights Under The Final Constitution, Tshepo L. Mosikatsana

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Article investigates the nature and extent of the protection granted to children's rights in the South African Constitution. It concludes that the child-centered approach of the Constitution entitles children, as independent actors, to certain fundamental rights. Acknowledging both the parent-centered nature of the existing South African legal framework and the entrenched support for practices, many rooted in indigenous law and tradition, that contribute to the oppression of children, the author argues that the constitutionalization of these rights will contribute to the betterment of children in South Africa, proving to be more than mere moral exhortation. Under apartheid in South …


An Examination Of Whether Incarcerated Juveniles Are Entitled By The Constitution To Rehabilitative Treatment, Andrew D. Roth Nov 1985

An Examination Of Whether Incarcerated Juveniles Are Entitled By The Constitution To Rehabilitative Treatment, Andrew D. Roth

Michigan Law Review

This Note attempts to resolve the arguments presented in the literature and the case law and determine whether the federal Constitution mandates a right to treatment for involuntarily incarcerated juveniles. Part I examines the varied situations that have given rise to right to treatment claims. Part II elucidates the three principal theories on which right to treatment claims have been based: (1) that because the purpose of incarcerating juveniles is to promote their welfare, rehabilitation is mandated by the due process requirement that the nature of the commitment "bear some reasonable relation to the purpose for which the individual is …


Parental Notification As A Prerequisite For Minors' Access To Contraceptives: A Behavioral And Legal Analysis, Michael N. Finger Oct 1979

Parental Notification As A Prerequisite For Minors' Access To Contraceptives: A Behavioral And Legal Analysis, Michael N. Finger

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This article examines whether the constitutional right of parents to determine what is best for their children prevents the state from permitting minors access to contraceptives without notifying their parents. Part I examines the effect of the presence or absence of a notice requirement upon the interests of parents, minors, and the state. Part II reviews the development of the constitutional right of privacy and the impact of parental rights and state interests on the extension of privacy rights to minors. Part III considers the manner in which the interests of minors, parents, and the state should be balanced. The …


Juvenile Curfew Ordinances And The Constitution, Michigan Law Review Nov 1977

Juvenile Curfew Ordinances And The Constitution, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Recognizing that a legislature must decide whether to enact a juvenile curfew without the benefit of conclusive data on the effectiveness of such laws, the remainder of this Note will focus primarily upon the constitutional issues raised by such ordinances. The freedom of movement that is limited by a curfew is, it will be argued, an unenumerated right protected by the ninth and fourteenth amendments. The constitutional rights of juveniles, however, -are not necessarily coextensive with those of adults. Certain characteristics of juveniles-in particular, their lesser capacity for reason and self-control-imply that the strength of their right to freedom of …


Juvenile Courts--Juveniles In Delinquency Proceedings Are Not Constitutionally Entitled To The Right Of Trial By Jury--Mckeiver V. Pennsylvania, Michigan Law Review Nov 1971

Juvenile Courts--Juveniles In Delinquency Proceedings Are Not Constitutionally Entitled To The Right Of Trial By Jury--Mckeiver V. Pennsylvania, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

At a hearing in the juvenile court of Philadelphia in October 1968, Joseph McKeiver was declared a "delinquent child" and placed on probation by a juvenile court judge who determined that McKeiver had violated a Pennsylvania law. The juvenile court petition charged McKeiver, then sixteen years old, with robbery, larceny, and receiving stolen goods as the result of an incident in which McKeiver and twenty or thirty other youths took twenty-five cents from three teenagers. Despite the fact that the evidence against McKeiver consisted primarily of the weak and inconsistent testimony of two of the victims, the juvenile court judge, …


Equal Protection For The Illegitimate, Harry D. Krause Jan 1967

Equal Protection For The Illegitimate, Harry D. Krause

Michigan Law Review

In our time the general constitutional phrase promising equal protection has become specific law. It has been used to invalidate many state statutes which discriminated on the basis of race or other arbitrary criteria. Definite rules have been developed for this process of invalidation. These rules will be applied below to state and federal legislation that favors the legitimate child and discriminates against the illegitimate in matters of inheritance rights, rights of support, rights of name and custody, and social welfare. The question that will be asked is whether state and federal legislation may constitutionally discriminate between children on the …


Foster Parents Versus Agencies: A Case Study In The Judicial Application Of "The Best Interests Of The Child" Doctrine, Sanford N. Katz Jan 1966

Foster Parents Versus Agencies: A Case Study In The Judicial Application Of "The Best Interests Of The Child" Doctrine, Sanford N. Katz

Michigan Law Review

A recurring problem which courts face is the need to resolve the conflict which arises when foster parents challenge the decision of agencies that have disqualified these persons from continuing their relationship with or adopting their foster child. This article will explore the role of courts in resolving these disputes and will suggest some criteria by which the courts may be guided in deciding such questions.


Authorization Of Involuntary Blood Transfusion For Adult Jehovah's Witness Held Unconstitutional--In Re Brooks' Estate, Michigan Law Review Jan 1966

Authorization Of Involuntary Blood Transfusion For Adult Jehovah's Witness Held Unconstitutional--In Re Brooks' Estate, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Despite serious illness, plaintiff requested, in accordance with her religious beliefs as a Jehovah's Witness, that blood transfusions not be administered to her. Upon the request of her physician and several assistant state's attorneys, a court-appointed guardian was authorized to consent to a blood transfusion for the plaintiff, and a transfusion was administered. On appeal of the court's action to the Supreme Court of Illinois, held, order reversed. The authorization of a blood transfusion for an adult Jehovah's Witness who has only adult children is an unconstitutional interference with the patient's right to the free exercise of her religion.


Child Custody In A Federal System, Leonard G. Ratner Mar 1964

Child Custody In A Federal System, Leonard G. Ratner

Michigan Law Review

Among the most difficult of judicial functions is the determination of a child's custody after its parents have separated. The difficulties are acute enough when all the parties remain in the same place; when the parties are in different states, an additional perplexing problem arises as to which state should have authority to make the custody decision. This broad question can be resolved into three distinct though interrelated issues: (1) what state may initially determine custody; (2) what state may later modify that determination; (3) to what extent is such a determination binding on other states.


Conflict Of Laws - Custody Decrees - Jurisdiction To Modify And Effect In Sister States, Donald R. Jolliffe S.Ed. Nov 1959

Conflict Of Laws - Custody Decrees - Jurisdiction To Modify And Effect In Sister States, Donald R. Jolliffe S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Husband and wife were divorced in Wisconsin in 1956 by a judgment which awarded alimony, custody of the children, and support money to W. The custody decree provided that W be permitted to remove the children to California but that they be allowed to visit H each summer. While H was visiting California in October 1957, he was served in an action commenced by W seeking absolute custody. H returned to Wisconsin and on November 5 asked the Wisconsin court to modify its divorce judgment by awarding custody of the children to him. That court set a hearing and …


Municipal Corporations - Police Power - Constitutional Validity Of Curfew Ordinance, John A. Ziegler S.Ed. May 1957

Municipal Corporations - Police Power - Constitutional Validity Of Curfew Ordinance, John A. Ziegler S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellant-petitioner was charged with a violation of a city ordinance making it a misdemeanor to assist any minor under the age of seventeen to violate the curfew laws. The curfew ordinance prohibits minors under the age of seventeen from being in any public place between IO P.M. and 5 A.M. unless accompanied by parent or guardian, or unless the presence of the minor is connected with and required by some legitimate business, trade, profession or occupation in which the minor is engaged. Petitioner moved to dismiss the complaint at the preliminary hearing on the grounds that the ordinance was an …


Constitutional Law - Right To Counsel In Juvenile Court, John A. Ziegler Jr. May 1956

Constitutional Law - Right To Counsel In Juvenile Court, John A. Ziegler Jr.

Michigan Law Review

In April 1953 petitioner was found to have violated a law by the juvenile court. Being under the age of eighteen, he was committed to the National Training School for Boys of the District 0£ Columbia. He was paroled about a year later but was re-arrested in March 1955 for violation of his parole and brought before the United States Parole Board. Before the parole board could take action he petitioned the federal district court for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that the action of the juvenile court in 1953 had been unconstitutional in that petitioner had …


Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Reivew Apr 1906

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Reivew

Michigan Law Review

Agency--Ratification--Action by Principal Based on His Own Ratification; Bailments--Negligence of Bailor and Bailee; Bills and Notes--Designation of Amount--Marginal Figures; Bills and Notes--Sufficiency of Plaintiff's Title; Bills and Notes--Rights of an Accommodation Maker; Carriers--Liability of Steamship Company for Loss of Passenger's Baggage; Common Carrers--Limitation of Liability by Special Contract--Exemption Includes Limitation; Constitutional Law--Game Laws; Constitutional Law--Habeas Corpus--Former Jeopardy; Contract for Sale of Realty--Rescission--Bringing Action not Sufficient Notice of Recission; Corporations--Foreign Corporations--Doing Business in the State--State Control--Taxation of Intra-State Business; Corporations--Illegal Payment of Dividends--Statuatory Liability of Directors--Discretion of Directors; Corporations--Ultra Vires Contract--Powers of Railroad Company--Estoppel; Criminal Law--Homicide--Threats by Deceased; Damages--Nursing by Husband …


Note And Comment, Edson R. Sunderland, Henry M. Bates, Harry B. Hutchins, John R. Rood, James H. Brewster, James H. Brewster Feb 1906

Note And Comment, Edson R. Sunderland, Henry M. Bates, Harry B. Hutchins, John R. Rood, James H. Brewster, James H. Brewster

Michigan Law Review

Constitutional Privileges in the Philippine Islands; A Laudatory Publication as a Cause of Action; The Cy-Pres Doctrine; Duty of Vendee to See to Investment of Funds; the Power to Declare a forfeiture and Sell Property Used in Violation of a Statute; Dying Declarations; "Juvenile Courts" and Jury Trials for Neglected, Delinquent, Children;