Juvenile Law Commons^™

Addressing Sexual Violence Against Youth In Custody: Youth Workers’ Handbook On Identifying And Addressing Sexual Violence In Juvenile Justice Settings, Brenda V. Smith, Jaime M. Yarussi

Research Reports & White Papers

From 1999 to 2012, The Project on Addressing Prison Rape (the Project) at American University’s Washington College of Law had a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) to provide training to high-level correctional decisionmakers on key issues in addressing and investigating staff sexual misconduct. In 2003, with the enactment of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), the Project’s focus shifted to addressing prison rape—both staff sexual misconduct and offender-on-offender sexual abuse. In 2006, Smith Consulting began a collaborative effort with the Project and NIC to focus efforts on addressing sexual abuse of youth in custody. This handbook …

Law As Shield, Law As Sword: The Icc's Lubanga Decision, Child Soldiers And The Perverse Mutualism Of Direct Participation In Hostilities, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The International Criminal Court’s Lubanga decision has been hailed as a landmark ruling heralding an end to impunity for those who recruit and employ children in armed conflict and a pivotal victory for the protection of children. Overlooked amidst this self-congratulation is that the ICC incorrectly applied the law governing civilian participation in hostilities which perversely places child soldiers at greater risk of being attacked. The Court created a false distinction between active and direct participation in hostilities. Expanding the kinds and types of behaviors that constitute children actively participating in hostilities expanded Lubanga's liability. But under the law of …

"Children Are Different": Constitutional Values And Justice Policy, Elizabeth S. Scott

Faculty Scholarship

This essay explores the importance for Eighth Amendment jurisprudence and for juvenile crime regulation of Miller v. Alabama (2012) and two earlier Supreme Court opinions rejecting harsh sentences for juveniles. It argues that the Court has broken new ground in defining juveniles as a category of offenders who are subject to special Eighth Amendment protections. In Miller and in Graham v. Florida (2010) particularly, the Court has applied to juveniles' non-capital sentences the rigorous proportionality review that, for adults, has been reserved for death sentences. The essay then turns to the implications of the opinions for juvenile crime policy, arguing …

The Legal Significance Of The Psychological Ability To Appreciate The “Other”, Paul F. Rothstein

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Recently the U.S. Supreme Court, citing neurological and psychological studies, held that because juveniles are deficient in appreciating consequences to others, they should never be given the death penalty. The author found, in his years as a legal scholar, educator, and practitioner, that “appreciating the ‘other’”--putting oneself in the position of others---is critical to law and the study of law in more than the obvious ways.

The author became aware of empirical studies and psychological experiments demonstrating that children below a certain age have trouble seeing things from another’s vantage point, and found that the facility to do so develops …

Adult Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse And The Statute Of Limitations: The Need For Consistent Application Of The Delayed Discovery Rule, Gregory G. Gordon

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

2012 Maine Juvenile Justice Data Book, Becky Noréus, George Shaler Mph, Desiree Girard Mppm

Justice Policy

The 2012 Maine Juvenile Justice Data Book presents a portrait of youth involvement with the Maine juvenile justice system. The data book consists of five sections, (1) Maine Youth Population Trends, (2) Maine Juvenile Justice System Trends, (3) Maine County Trends, (4) Maine Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Trends, and (5) Youth Recidivism Outcomes in Maine.

While Maine’s youth arrest rates are consistently among the lowest in the country, the state faces challenges in ensuring that limited resources are targeted most efficiently and effectively for programs and services aimed at rehabilitating youth who encounter the juvenile justice system. The analyses presented …

Prea 101 For Juvenile Justice Agencies, Brenda V. Smith

Presentations

No abstract provided.

You Have The Right To Remain Thirteen: Considering Age In Juvenile Interrogations In J.D.B. V. North Carolina, Nicole J. Ettlinger

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cudgel Or Carrot: How Roper V. Simmons Will Affect Plea Bargaining In The Juvenile System , D. Brian Woo

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

In 2005, the United States Supreme Court held, in Roper v. Simmons, that the execution of convicted juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. In addressing the issue, the Court determined that a national consensus had developed against the execution of juveniles. Ultimately, a majority of the court decided that a national public consensus had been reached against the execution of juveniles under 18 in age. With Roper, no longer can juveniles of any age be executed. This decision will undoubtedly affect the entire juvenile penal system, from how cases enter the system, to …

Ending Silence: Youth Speaking Up About Sexual Abuse In Custody - Mary’S Friend, Brenda V. Smith, Stephanie A. Kinard, Jaime M. Yarussi, Michael J. Auger

Research Reports & White Papers

focusing on female youth age 10-13

Ending Silence: Youth Speaking Up About Sexual Abuse In Custody - Sheila’S Dilemma, Brenda V. Smith, Stephanie A. Kinard, Jaime M. Yarussi, Michael J. Auger

Research Reports & White Papers

focusing on female youth age 14-18

Ending Silence: Youth Speaking Up About Sexual Abuse In Custody - Carol’S Question, Brenda V. Smith, Stephanie A. Kinard, Jaime M. Yarussi, Michael J. Auger

Research Reports & White Papers

focusing on sexual minority youth

Achieving Fundamental Fairness For Oklahoma's Juveniles: The Role For Competency In Juvenile Proceedings, Mary Sue Backus

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

New Paths For The Court: Protections Afforded Juveniles Under Miranda; Effective Assistance Of Counsel; And Habeas Corpus Decisions Of The Supreme Court’S 2010/2011 Term, Richard Klein

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ending Silence: Youth Speaking Up About Sexual Abuse In Custody - Charlie’S Report, Brenda V. Smith, Stephanie A. Kinard, Jaime M. Yarussi, Michael J. Auger

Research Reports & White Papers

focusing on male youth age 10-13

A Look At In Re Fabian A.: Examining The Extension Of Due Process Protections And Failure To Object As Waiver In The Juvenile Justice System, Elizabeth Bannon

Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal

Vol. 11, No. 1

Out Of The Strike Zone: Why Graham V. Florida Makes It Unconstitutional To Use Juvenile-Age Convictions As Strikes To Mandate Life Without Parole Under § 841(B)(1)(A), Christopher J. Walsh

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

New Jersey V. T.L.O.: School Searches And The Applicability Of The Exclusionary Rule In Juvenile Delinquency And Criminal Proceedings, Bryan Stoddard

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Annual Juvenile Recidivism Report, Becky Noréus

Justice Policy

Executive Summary:

The Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) Division of Juvenile Services (DJS) contracts with the Muskie School of Public Service in a state-university partnership to analyze juvenile recidivism rates. DJS measures juvenile justice outcomes to guide policy and program development geared toward recidivism reduction. Reduction of youth recidivism in Maine increases public safety.

Recidivism in this report is defined as a re-adjudication (juvenile) or conviction (adult) for an offense committed by a youth in Maine within three years of his or her first adjudication. This report measures DJS impact on youth who have been adjudicated and placed under supervision …

"Sweet Childish Days": Using Developmental Psychology Research In Evaluating The Admissibility Of Out-Of-Court Statements By Young Children, Lynn Mclain

All Faculty Scholarship

A three-year-old child, while being bathed by her babysitter, innocently mentions that her “pee-pee” hurts. When the babysitter asks the child how she hurt it, she says, “Uncle Ernie (her mother’s boyfriend) told me not to tell.” A subsequent medical examination reveals that the child has gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease.

By the time of trial, the child is four and-a-half-years old. When questioned by the trial judge, she cannot explain to the judge’s satisfaction, “the difference between the truth and a lie.” Moreover, she has no long term memory of the incident. The judge rules the child incompetent to …

Juvenile Life Without Parole: Unconstitutional In Michigan?, Kimberly A. Thomas

Articles

Last term, in Graham v Florida,1 the United States Supreme Court found unconstitutional the sentence of life without parole for a juvenile who committed a non-homicide offense. This attention to the sentencing of juvenile offenders is a continuation of the Court's decision in Roper v Simmons,2 in which the Court held that juvenile offenders could not constitutionally receive the death penalty. This scrutiny should be a signal to Michigan to examine its own jurisprudence on juveniles receiving sentences of life without parole. Michigan has the second-highest number of persons serving sentences of life without parole for offenses committed when they …

A Search For The Truth Or Trial By Ordeal: When Prosecutors Cross-Examine Adolescents How Should Courts Respond, Frank E. Vandervort

Articles

It is an axiom of the law that cross-examination is, in John Henry Wigmore's words, the "greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth." In part because of its perceived utility in getting to the truth of a matter, courts are generally reluctant, despite broad authority to do so, to step in and to govern the conduct of cross-examination. But is cross-examination invariably calculated to ascertain the truth? While most lawyers are familiar with Wigmore's famous quotation, few are familiar with the caveat that shortly follows it: "A lawyer can do anything with cross-examination.. . . He may, …

Unfettered Discretion: Criminal Orders Of Protection And Their Impact On Parent Defendants, David Jaros

All Faculty Scholarship

The last two decades have witnessed an astonishing increase in the use of the criminal justice system to police neglectful parents. Recasting traditional allegations of neglect as criminal charges of endangering the welfare of a child, prosecutors and the police have involved criminal courts in the regulation of aspects of the parent child relationship that were once the sole province of family courts. This Article explores the legal implications of vesting judges in these cases with the unfettered discretion to issue protective orders that criminalize contact between a parent and her child. I argue that procedures for issuing protective orders …

Pity The Child: The Age Of Delinquency In New York, Merril Sobie

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Contradictions Of Juvenile Crime & Punishment, Jeffrey Fagan

Faculty Scholarship

This essay explores the contradictions and puzzles of modern juvenile justice, and illustrates the enduring power of the child-saving philosophy of the juvenile court in an era of punitiveness toward offenders both young and old. The exponential growth in incarceration in the U.S. since the 1970s has been more restrained for juveniles than adults, even in the face of a youth violence epidemic that lasted for nearly a decade. Rhetoric has grown harsher in the wake of moral panics about youth crime, juvenile codes now express the language of retribution and incapacitation, yet the growth in incarceration of juveniles was …

The Contradictions Of Juvenile Crime & Punishment, Jeffery Fagan

Faculty Scholarship

Juvenile incarceration in the United States is, at first glance, distinctly different from its adult counterpart. While some juvenile facilities retain the iconic aesthetic of adult incarceration – orange jumpsuits, large cellblocks, uniformed guards, barbed wire, and similar heavy security measures – others have trappings and atmospherics more reminiscent of boarding schools, therapeutic communities, or small college campuses. These compact, benign settings avoid the physical stigmata of institutional life and accord some autonomy of movement and intimacy in relations with staff. They also give primacy to developmentally appropriate and therapeutic interventions.

Social Welfare And Fairness In Juvenile Crime Regulation, Elizabeth S. Scott, Laurence Steinberg

Faculty Scholarship

The question of how lawmakers should respond to developmental differences between adolescents and adults in formulating juvenile crime policy has been the subject of debate for a generation. A theme of the punitive law reforms that dismantled the traditional juvenile justice system in the 1980s and 1990s was that adolescents were not different from adults in any way that was relevant to criminal punishment – or at least that any differences were trumped by the demands of public safety. But this view has been challenged in recent years; scholars and courts have recognized that adolescents, due to their developmental immaturity, …

The Disregarding Of The Rehabilitative Spirit Of Juvenile Codes: Addressing Resentencing Hearings In Blended Sentencing Schemes, Grace Shear

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Intentional Wrongful Conviction Of Children, Victor Streib

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Intentional wrongful convictions in cases involving child offenders may occur when judges have insufficient evidence proving any crime by the child but feel a strong need for the courts to intervene in the child's life and behavior. They believe that the negative factors attached to such a status are worth suffering if the child gains entry into a desired state program. This is wrongfully convicting the child "for the child's own good." Juvenile court judges too often receive knowledge of the child's background and previous record prior to any trial or hearing in order to devise the best result for …

Rethinking The Constitutional Criminal Procedure Of Juvenile Transfer Hearings: Apprendi, Adult Punishment And Adult Process, Jenny E. Carroll

Faculty Scholarship

This article makes valuable new contributions to the burgeoning scholarly discourse on Apprendi v. New Jersey-a landmark decision that celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. It builds on the author's experience as a public defender, during which she pioneered the surprising but straightforward argument that under Apprendi, findings that justify transferring a juvenile to adult court must be proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Apprendi requires that any fact authorizing a sentence higher than the otherwise applicable statutory maximum must be found by a jury using a beyond a reasonable doubt standard. This tenet applies directly to juvenile …