Juvenile Law Commons^™

Easy Victims Of The Law: Protecting The Constitutional Rights Of Juvenile Suspects To Prevent False Confessions, Tayler Klinkbeil

Child and Family Law Journal

The inherently coercive nature of custodial interrogation is the very reason the Supreme Court handed down the famous Miranda v. Arizona decision; the court recognized the increased vulnerability that suspects under questioning are subjected to when placed in a situation designed to elicit incriminating information.¹ Legal scholars and judiciaries alike agree that the likelihood of police questioning resulting in a false admission of guilt or self-incriminating statements is disproportionately more probable if the subject of the questioning is a minor.² The constitutional protections that are afforded to juvenile suspects subjected to custodial interrogations are those set out in …

It Is Time For Family Courts To Be More Aware Of Parental Mental Illness And Substance Abuse, Elaina Larson

Child and Family Law Journal

Since the COVID-19 pandemic and previous years, the mental health and substance abuse crises in Florida are growing at an unprecedented rate.¹ With substantive due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment as a substantial roadblock, the Florida courts are reluctant to adequately address the mental health and substance abuse needs of individuals.² This issue is especially difficult in cases involving the termination of parental rights, leaving children in damaging environments with unfit parents suffering from severe mental illness and substance abuse.³ To prevent children from growing up under negative conditions and developing mental health problems as well, …

The Effects Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On The Future Of Our Youth, Patrick Cobb

Child and Family Law Journal

22.3 percent.¹ This is the percentage of the population of the United States under the age of 18. These three words should come to mind: growth, family, and safety. Unfortunately, just because these words come to mind, does not mean these are a reality for our youth. The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) study explores our youth’s mental, emotional, and social well-being across a wide sample with some disturbing results.

As we de-code what exactly ACEs entails, we can learn to predict, diagnose, and ultimately prevent negative environments our youth are involved in. Prioritizing these prevention efforts can eventually lead …

A Conflict In The Courts: An Update On School Restroom Policies, Suzanne Eckes

Child and Family Law Journal

Over the past ten years, courts have been asked to weigh in on whether students’ rights are violated when school policies prohibit them from using restrooms that align with their gender identities. In the vast majority of legal cases, courts have rendered decisions favorable for the student. In December 2022, however, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a school district’s policy prohibiting transgender students from using a restroom that matched their gender identity did not violate Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 nor the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Eleventh Circuit’s en banc …

The Independent Existence: A Look At Florida's Wrongful Death Statute In The Wake Of Dobbs And Changing State Abortion Laws., Katherine Bolliger

Child and Family Law Journal

Following the Supreme Court’s overturning of the federally mandated fundamental right to abortion founded in Roe¹ and Casey,² the decision of whether a woman may terminate a pregnancy has returned to the states with the current Court’s implementation of Dobbs v. Jackson Woman’s Health.³ In Florida, the state government decided to reduce the gestational age for termination to fifteen weeks in July 2022, and further reduced the gestational age to six weeks in April 2023 provided that the Florida Supreme Court upholds the fifteen week ban.⁴ This note operates under the fifteen week standard …