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Expungement Of Arrest Records, Adrienne Volenik

Law Faculty Publications

Contrary to the philosophy of the juvenile court, it is undoubtedly a rare occasion when a child benefits from his exposure to the juvenile court system. Even when a child is actually rehabilitated by the process, the invidious effects that flow from being labeled a "juvenile delinquent" may serve to negate any benefit that he may have received. Perhaps the most unjustifiable of all side effects is the stigma that attaches to a child who has been arrested and subsequently either released without prosecution or acquitted. In a society that espouses the idea that an individual is innocent until proven …