Juvenile Law Commons^™

3l Jayden Boudreau Earns Prestigious Skadden Fellowship, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

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The Skadden Fellowship Foundation announced this week that 3L Jayden Boudreau is one of only 34 law students from across the country—and the only one from an Indiana law school— that has been selected as a 2026 Skadden Fellow, one of the most prestigious honors in public interest law.

The award will support Boudreau’s innovative ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project, focused on protecting the rights of queer and transgender youth in school settings through legal advocacy and systemic policy engagement. He will spend two years in New York City, working at the national headquarters of the American Civil Liberties Union.

“Change Is Inevitable”: How The First Amendment Safety-Valve Theory Can Expand Protections For Student Expression, Leslie Klein, Jonathan Peters

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

This article challenges the traditional notion that the regulation and protection of student expression in public schools should be based primarily or exclusively on the marketplace theory, which often reinforces the status quo. The safety valve theory is more appropriate and should be applied, especially in the current political and social climate, to inspire an expansion of student speech and press rights that would support expressive activities seeking to change the public discourse around important issues. Students who can speak freely will be more willing to accept decisions that go against them, and a school environment in which passionate or …

Adopted Into Debt?, Grace Palcic

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

While adoption procedures differ from state to state, every state uses some variation of the best interest of the child standard to determine the outcome of an adoption proceeding. To gather information for the best interest determination, states have created the home study process to investigate prospective adoptive families. A home study allows social workers and/or private adoption agencies to look at the needs of the child, the ability of the parents to care for the child, the existing familial dynamics, the safety of the physical home, the perceived moral character and reputation of the parents, mental and physical health …

The Chemical Straightjacket: Institutional Over-Use Of Psychotropic Drugs On Children In Lieu Of Therapeutic Community Mental Health Services, Marisa Leib-Neri

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

This Article argues that the abysmal state of children’s mental health in America is in part due to an overreliance on and over prescription of psychotropic drugs inside psychiatric residential institutions in lieu of community based mental health services. This overreliance on residential institutions and psychotropic drugs has allowed a new form of chemical restraint to flourish—the chemical straitjacket. This Article uses the medication lists of twelve children in seven different North Carolina psychiatric residential treatment facilities to demonstrate how the chemical straitjacket operates: the prescription of drugs not approved for pediatric populations, counter to evidence-based practices for particular diagnoses, …

Doe Not Worry: Expanding Protections For Unaccompanied Children, Heidi E. Davis

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

A recent Fourth Circuit decision created a circuit split regarding the standard applied to constitutional violations in secure holding facilities. The more “liberal” professional judgment standard—as promulgated by Youngberg v. Romeo and applied to unaccompanied immigrant minors in Doe 4 ex rel. Lopez—is necessary but insufficient for the protection of unaccompanied children. This Note first examines the origins of the professional judgment standard in the Youngberg case. Then, cases are surveyed showing that the Supreme Court has recognized children as a vulnerable population, and current regulations, legislation, and court opinions recognize the vulnerabilities of unaccompanied children. With these ideas in …

Don't Mess With Texans' Rights: Protecting Transgender Youth From The Paternalistic Policies Of State Executives, Mary Franklin

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion in 2022 detailing how gender-affirming care for transgender minors constituted child abuse under the Texas Family Code. As a result of this opinion, multiple families of trans teens engaging in various forms of gender-affirming care were investigated by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. This Article applies the constitutional standards imposed by the equal protection clause, substantive due process, and parental authority to Paxton’s recommendation, using both the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. Ultimately, this Article concludes that Paxton’s opinion fails to meet these constitutional standards and recommends action from the …

Rojas Reflects On Law School During A Pandemic, James Owsley Boyd

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During her sophomore year of college, Alexa Rojas was an intake intern with a children’s advocacy center outside of Joliet, Illinois. It sparked the realization that she knew she wanted to make a difference in the lives of kids who have endured abuse and trauma. In her position, Rojas served as the first point of contact for families scheduling forensic interviews with law enforcement and prosecutors. In order to lessen the impact on the victim, substantial logistical work went on behind the scenes to ensure that the child only had to tell their story once—to someone they trusted.

The Proactive Model: How To Better Protect The Right To Special Education For Incarcerated Youth, John Bignotti

Indiana Law Journal

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees access to a specialized, appropriate public education for youth with disabilities in the United States. While progress has been made and this right to education extends to incarcerated youth as well as those outside the juvenile justice system, there is nonetheless a fundamental limitation on how this federal requirement is imposed in the carceral context: it is enforced through primarily reactive mechanisms. Lawsuits, state compliance regimes, and consent decrees can hold states and juvenile facilities accountable after systemic failures to comply with the IDEA; however, the inherent inconsistency and slow pace of …

Rethinking Juvenile Rehabilitation: Presumptive Waiver And Alternative Sentencing In Indiana, S. Reese Sobol Ii

Indiana Law Journal

Indiana’s juvenile justice system, like all systems of juvenile justice, is premised on rehabilitation. And while Indiana is far from an outdated, overly punitive system, there are several tangible opportunities for improvement. Indiana enacted an alternative sentencing scheme for juvenile offenders waived into adult court in 2013, but alternative sentencing has not been implemented in an effective manner yet. Furthermore, Indiana’s statutory system of waiver contains several aspects that are inconsistent with, or simply fail to account for, modern social science understandings.

This Comment seeks to expound upon relevant social science principles within the context of juvenile justice in order …

There’S Nothing Worse Than Losing To A Girl: An Analysis Of Sex Segregation In American Youth Sports, Julia Konieczny

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Addressing The High School Sexual Assault Epidemic: Preventive And Responsive Solutions, Carolyn Haney

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

The Best Interests Of A Trafficked Adolescent, Anah Hewetson Gouty

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

For decades, the world has faced a tremendous obstacle in locating trafficking victims and their perpetrators. The United States has enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and implemented a system of Trafficking in Persons Reports (TIPs) to track domestic progress. Nonetheless, even more challenging than addressing adult trafficking is conquering the rampant existence of child trafficking, which inherently has its own unique challenges. Child trafficking comes in many forms and affects different regions of the world in various ways. Misunderstanding precisely what constitutes trafficking is one of the obstacles to ridding the world of its existence. Moreover, the victimsadolescents- …

The "Once An Adult, Always An Adult" Doctrine: More Harm Than Good, Kaitlin Pegg

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

This Note focuses on the negative effects of the “once an adult, always an adult” doctrine, one mechanism through which juveniles convicted of a crime can be transferred to adult court. The doctrine, enacted in a majority of states, provides that children who have been previously transferred to adult court by a judge or prosecutor, or because of statutory exclusion of certain crimes from juvenile jurisdiction, will be transferred for all subsequent crimes, regardless of severity.

When juveniles convicted of crimes are transferred to the adult court system, they are subject to a wide array of harsh punishments unavailable in …

The Limits Of Child Pornography, Carissa Byrne Hessick

Indiana Law Journal

Although the First Amendment ordinarily protects the creation, distribution, and possession of visual images, the Supreme Court has declared that those protections do not apply to child pornography. But the Court has failed to clearly define child pornography as a category of speech. Providing a precise definition of the child pornography exception to the First Amendment has become increasingly important because recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the penalties associated with the creation, distribution, and possession of child pornography.

This Article proposes a clear definition of the child pornography exception. It argues that an image ought to fall …

Review For Release: Juvenile Offenders, State Parole Practices, And The Eighth Amendment, Sarah F. Russell

Indiana Law Journal

State parole boards have historically operated free from constitutional constraints when making decisions about whether to release prisoners. Recent Supreme Court decisions subject states to a new constitutional requirement to provide a “meaningful opportunity to obtain release” for at least some categories of juvenile offenders. Using original data collected through a survey, this Article provides the first comprehensive description of existing parole board release procedures nationwide and explores whether these practices comply with the Court’s Eighth Amendment mandate.

The Court’s recent decisions in Graham v. Florida and Miller v. Alabama prohibit sentences of life without the possibility of release (LWOP) …

The Price They Pay: Protecting The Mother-Child Relationship Through The Use Of Prison Nurseries And Residential Parenting Programs, Anne E. Jbara

Indiana Law Journal

Over the past century, while advocates of prison nurseries have applauded their individual and societal benefits, opponents have criticized their touchy-feely undertones, arguing that children do not belong behind bars. New York instituted the first modern prison nursery program in 1901 at its Bedford Hills facility, and the nursery has existed ever since. The federal government and a number of other states have followed suit in developing programs that, to varying degrees, give mothers and infants an opportunity to remain together until the infant reaches a particular age. The requirements for such programs vary by state but generally only permit …

The Paradox Of Statutory Rape, Russell L. Christopher, Kathryn H. Christopher

Indiana Law Journal

What once protected only virginal girls under the age of ten now also protects sexually aggressive males under the age of eighteen. While thirteenth-century statutory rape law had little reason to address the unthinkable possibility of chaste nine-year-old girls raping adult men, twenty-first-century statutory rape law has failed to address the modern reality of distinctly unchaste seventeen-year-old males raping adult women. Despite dramatically expanding statutory rape’s protected class, the minimalist thirteenth-century conception of the offense remains largely unchanged—intercourse with a juvenile. Overlooked is the new effect of this centuries-old offense—a sexually aggressive seventeen-year-old raping an adult now exposes the adult …

Of Burning Houses And Roasting Pigs: Why Butler V. Michigan Remains A Key Free Speech Victory More Than A Half-Century Later, Clay Calvert

Federal Communications Law Journal

More than fifty years after the U.S. Supreme Court rendered its unanimous decision in Butler v. Michigan, the case remains a pivotal-if unheralded and perhaps underappreciated-victory for freedom of speech. This Article analyzes the Butler principle and demonstrates how courts repeatedly apply it across different media platforms and in a myriad of factually distinct contexts, ranging from prohibitions on the sale of sex toys to bans on beer bottles with offensive labels. The Article initially provides an in-depth look at Butler, drawing on literary scholarship, historical newspaper articles from the time of the case, and other sources. It then illustrates …

The Alien Tort Statute And Flomo V. Firestone Natural Rubber Company: The Key To Change In Global Child Labor Practices?, Jessica Bergman

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The case of Flomo v. Firestone Natural Rubber Company involves child laborers' claims that labor practices on a Liberian rubber plantation violate international norms. Though the case was recently resolved in favor of the defendants at the district court level, the case's complicated procedural and substantive history offers insight into the viability of future child labor claims. This Note examines the Flomo case and explores how standards from the ATS and the United States Supreme Court case Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain apply to future plaintiffs' claims. This Note also analyzes the potential repercussions that plaintiffs face in using the ATS as …

The Challenge Of Developing Effective Public Policy On The Use Of Social Media By Youth, John Palfrey

Federal Communications Law Journal

Symposium: Essays from Time Warner Cable's Research Program on Digital Communications.

Combating Cyberbullying: Emphasizing Education Over Criminalization, Jessica P. Meredith

Federal Communications Law Journal

The advent of new technologies such as social media websites like MySpace and Facebook have increased the methods through which bullying takes form and causes harm to children and teenagers. As the public has become more aware of the dangers of this new form of bullying, cyberbullying, legislators have responded by proposing legislation to criminalize this type of behavior with varying degrees of success. This Note explains the problem of cyberbullying and evaluates state and federal legislative efforts to combat the issue through criminalization, then argues that prevention through education will be the most effective solution. Unlike criminalization, educational initiatives …

A "Pay Or Play" Experiment To Improve Children's Educational Television, Lili Levi

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article addresses both the constitutionality and the efficacy of the FCC's current rules that require broadcasters to air children's educational programming. It argues that, even though the rules would probably pass muster under the First Amendment, they should nevertheless be substantially revised.

Empirical studies show mixed results, with substantial amounts of educationally insufficient programming. This is predictable-attributable to broadcaster incentives, limits on the FCC's enforcement capacities, and audience factors. Instead, the Article advises a turn away from programming mandates. It proposes a "pay or play" approach that allows broadcasters to pay a fee to a fund for high-quality public …

Policing In Schools: Developing A Governance Document For School Resource Officers In K-12 Schools, India Geronimo Thusi, Catherine Y. Kim

Books & Book Chapters by Maurer Faculty

This White Paper argues that a formal governance document is necessary to ensure that law enforcement, school officials, and the communities they serve have a shared understanding of the goals of the SRO program, and that these officers receive the necessary support and training prior to their deployment.6 Absent specific guidelines, SROs may not have a clear understanding of their role within the larger educational context or the rights and needs of the children they are intended to serve; they may inadvertently, and indeed counterproductively, create an adversarial environment that pushes students, particularly at-risk students, out of school rather than …

The Never-Ending Limits Of § 230: Extending Isp Immunity To The Sexual Exploitation Of Children, Katy Noeth

Federal Communications Law Journal

In 2006, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas extended civil liability to Yahoo! under § 230 of the Communications Decency Act so that it could not be sued for knowingly profiting from a Web site where members exchanged sexually explicit pictures of minors. The court found that the reasoning of the seminal § 230 case, Zeran v. AOL, was analogous and that policy considerations mandated its holding.

This Note argues that a multifaceted approach is needed to prevent future courts from following that decision, including an amendment to § 230 that would impose civil liability upon …

The Uses And Abuses Of Religion In Child Custody Cases: Parents Outside The Wall Of Separation, Joshua S. Press

Indiana Law Journal

Religious custody disputes such as those at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints compound in April, 2008 are very complex and are finding their way into courts with increasing regularity. This Essay argues that in responding to these religious custody disputes, courts should abstain from either analyzing a parent’s religious practices for their perceived “risks of harm” to the child, or from applying a flat rule to ensure that the custodial parent’s religious preferences take primacy. Instead, courts should employ the actual or substantial harm standard—which would only bar a parent from fully practicing her religion if …

Child Support And (In)Ability To Pay: The Case For The Cost Shares Model, Pamela Foohey

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Currently enacted child support guidelines primarily focus on maintaining children's economic well-being when a single household is split into two. This article argues that this focus discounts another consideration which, when combined with the current analysis, could further advance children's well-being: the ability of parents to pay. An analysis of payment characteristics demonstrates that lower child support obligations may increase the amount of child support paid on average. Lowering presumptive obligations will make lower-income parents better able and more likely to pay their obligations, thereby increasing the amount of child support paid to lower-income children, while at most only marginally …

Midwestern Juvenile Drug Courts: Analysis & Recommendations, Nicole A. Kozdron

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

What About The Children? A Call For Regulation Of Assisted Reproductive Technology, Cahterine A. Clements

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Youth, Globalization, And The Law, Michael Grossberg

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The History Of Children's Hearsay: From Old Bailey To Post-Davis, Thomas D. Lyon, Raymond Lamagna

Indiana Law Journal

The papers in this symposium were originally prepared for the Section on Evidence of the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools.