Juvenile Law Commons^™

How The United States Fails Immigrant Youth, Abigail "Abby" Reinhard Greene

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Immigrants are some of the most marginalized members of society. Immigrant youth, in particular, endure additional stresses due to their dual status as children and immigrants. Many fled their home country from persecution or entered the U.S. without a parent or legal guardian.

By May 2024, over 120 million individuals were “forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations.” In 2022, over 152,000 unaccompanied immigrant youths crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. The United States faces several challenges in supporting these immigrant youths, and it currently fails to meet those challenges. ...

This note details how …

Standard Of Proof In Child Welfare Cases, Guillermo Cintron

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

The lack of federal standards at the most crucial decision points of child welfare cases allows agencies across the country charged with ensuring the safety of children to abuse their authority by overregulating and policing Black and Brown families while interfering with their constitutional right to family integrity. Throughout this paper, I will share my experiences working in child welfare. Since 2001, I have worked with children and families in various roles involving the child welfare system. Over the course of my career, I have worked with children in foster care, providing therapeutic services as a case manager working with …

University Of The District Of Columbia Law Review, University Of The District Of Columbia Law Review

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Options For Youth With Disabilities: A Focus On Competitive Integrated Employment Limits, Tatyana Safronova

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

For people with disabilities, employment outcomes are discouraging. In 2021, only 19% were employed, a third of the employment rate for people without disabilities.1 Disabled individuals worked part-time because they could not find full-time work or because of a reduction in hours. 2 Fewer disabled persons had bachelor or higher degrees, and fewer worked in professional and managerial positions than people without disabilities. 3 To make it possible for disabled adults to get well-paying jobs, we must ensure that disabled youth have a solid educational foundation. That requires that more youth graduate high school; only 68.2% of students with disabilities …

The Missing Piece Of The Puzzle: The Intersection Of Race And Special Education, Tsega Zewdneh Shiferaw

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

The privileges allotted to Americans cannot be compared to any other country’s citizens. Americans have the liberty of saying what they want, thinking what they want, and acting freely in public. Nebiyat Shiferaw (“Nebiyat”) is a thirty-year-old African American man who is unable to speak and live independently because he has autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (“ASD”). Nebiyat does not experience the same liberties as most Americans; he has gone through special education programs and has overcome discrimination, not because of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), but because of his parents advocating for him. As a …

A More Grown-Up Response To Ordinary Adolescent Behaviors: Repealing Pins Laws To Protect And Empower D.C. Youth, Mae C. Quinn, Tierra Copeland, Tatyana Hopkins, Mary Brody

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

In February 2020, the District of Columbia (“District” or “D.C.”) Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (“JJAG”), issued an important report calling for decriminalization of “status offenses.” Status offenses are alleged youthful wrongdoings that are prosecuted in the District as “Persons in Need of Supervision” cases.1 This Position Paper provides additional support for JJAG’s recommendations. It offers guidance and suggestions to help the District successfully transition away from PINS prosecutions—while also ensuring community youth feel safe, supported, and empowered in their own lives as they transition to adulthood. The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has historically been the enforcement arm to address youth …

Removing Police From Schools Using State Law Heightened Scrutiny, Christina Payne-Tsoupros

Journal Articles

This Article argues that school police, often called school resource officers, interfere with the state law right to education and proposes using the constitutional right to education under state law as a mechanism to remove police from schools. Disparities in school discipline for Black and brown children are well-known. After discussing the legal structures of school policing, this Article uses the Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) theoretical framework developed by Subini Annamma, David Connor, and Beth Ferri to explain why police are unacceptable in schools. Operating under the premise that school police are unacceptable, this Article then analyzes mechanisms to …

Invisible Article Iii Delinquency: History, Mystery, And Concerns About "Federal Juvenile Courts", Mae C. Quinn, Levi T. Bradford

Journal Articles

This essay is the second in a two-part series focused on our nation’s invisible juvenile justice system—one that operates under the legal radar as part of the U.S. Constitution’s Article III federal district court system. The first publication, Article III Adultification of Kids: History, Mystery, and Troubling Implications of Federal Youth Transfers, examined the little-known practice of prosecuting children as adults in federal courts. This paper will look at the related phenomenon of juvenile delinquency matters that are filed and pursued in our nation’s federal court system. To date, most scholarship evaluating youth prosecution has focused on our country’s juvenile …

Toward A Just System For Juveniles, Karl A. Racine, Elizabeth Wilkins

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Each year as a nation we prosecute over 800,000 children-nearly three percent of the juvenile population2 and detain over 200,000 of them.3 That is, we saddle almost three percent of our youth with the experience of being a defendant in court, with the label of delinquency. And we separate over a quarter of those youth from family and community for some period of time. The overwhelming majority of these children have experienced life-altering trauma in their young lives, and these experiences with the juvenile justice system can exacerbate that trauma.4 Yet,while we are affecting our young people on this massive …

Article Iii Adultification Of Kids: History, Mystery, And Troubling Implications Of Federal Youth Transfers, Mae Quinn, Grace R. Mclaughlin

Journal Articles

There is no federal juvenile court system in the United States. Rather, teens can face charges in Article III courts and can be transferred to be tried and sentenced as adults in these venues. This Article is the first of two articles in the Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice seeking to shed light on the largely invisible processes and populations involved in federal youth prosecution. This Article focuses on the federal transfer and prosecution of American youth as adults. It considers constitutional and statutory law relating to these federal transfers and then considers why current …

Backward Progress Toward Reinstating Parental Rights, Lashanda Adams

Journal Articles

States have passed reinstatement statutes to address the increased number of legal orphans in the foster care system. For the most part, however, these laws have been inadequate to address the problem because they are motivated by a view of terminated parents that does not fit current realities. Terminated parents have typically been viewed as obstacles to permanence rather than a realistic placement option. The laws often punish parents who opposed the termination of their parental rights and reward those who voluntarily signed relinquishments.

Reinstatement statutes alone are inadequate to address the growing concern over youth aging out of foster …

Missouri*@!!?*@! - Too Slow, Mae Quinn

Journal Articles

When asked to share my thoughts at this symposium about contemporary human rights issues in domestic criminal law—and how they manifest in St. Louis, Missouri in particular—I could not help but think of these words. Nina Simone, the brilliant vocal artist and civil rights activist, wrote these lyrics over fifty years ago and then bravely and controversially sang them for a mostly-white audience at New York City’s Carnegie Hall following the 1963 shooting death of Medgar Evers.2 Evers was a military veteran who turned civil rights activist and organizer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (“NAACP”) …

In Loco Juvenile Justice: Minors In Munis, Cash From Kids, And Adolescent Pro Se Advocacy - Ferguson And Beyond, Mae Quinn

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Chaining Kids To The Ever Turning Wheel: Other Contemporary Costs Of Juvenile Court Involvement, Candace Johnson, Mae Quinn

Journal Articles

In this essay, Candace Johnson and Mae Quinn respond to Tamar Birckhead’s important article The New Peonage, based, in part, on their work and experience representing youth in St. Louis, Missouri. They concur with Professor Birckhead’s conclusions about the unfortunate state of affairs in 21st century America— that we use fines, fees, and other prosecution practices to continue to unjustly punish poverty and oppressively regulate racial minorities. Such contemporary processes are far too reminiscent of historic convict leasing and Jim Crow era efforts intended to perpetuate second-class citizenship for persons of color. Johnson and Quinn add to Professor Birckhead’s critique …

Reporting Homeless Parents For Child Neglect: A Case Study From Our Nation's Capital, Marta Beresin

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

In September 2012, Mary Brown called the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless (the Legal Clinic); she was being threatenedwith the loss of her children, then eight- and nine-years-old, for the sole reason that she was homeless. Before she sought legal advice, Mary had requested shelter for her family but had been denied. The irony of Mary's case is that the D.C. government agreed she was homeless and agreed that she needed to shelter her two daughters for their safety, but instead of sheltering her, the D.C. government reported her to child protective services. Mary and her daughters were turned …

Reversing The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Initial Findings From The District Of Columbia On The Efficacy Of Training And Mobilizing Court-Appointed Lawyers To Use Special Education Advocacy On Behalf Of At-Risk Youth, Kylie Scholefield, Joseph B. Tulman

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

This article will describe the implementation and analyze the results of an attorney training and mobilizing project of the Juvenile and Special Education Law Clinic (Clinic) 1 of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL).2 This project was premised in part on the notion that many of the children caught in the District of Columbia's school-to-prison pipeline have disabilities that significantly affect their ability to learn, and that many of these children therefore encounter, more than other children, conflict with school personnel and failure in school. These children disproportionately repeat grades, face school …

Are There Too Many Due Process Cases? An Examination Of Jurisdictions With Relatively High Rates Of Special Education Hearings, Andrew A. Feinstein, Michele Kule-Korgood, Joseph B. Tulman

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Congress enacted, and President Ford signed, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) in 1975 to ensure that children with disabilities had access to a free appropriate public education. As the Supreme Court emphasized in Smith v. Robinson:[T]he Act establishes an enforceable substantive right to a free appropriate public education. See Board of Education of Hendrick Hudson Central School Dist. v.Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, (1982). See also 121 Cong. Rec.37417 (1975) (statement of Sen. Schweiker: "It can no longer be the policy of the Government to merely establish an unenforceable goal requiring all children to be in school. [The …

Against Professing: Practicing Critical Criminal Procedure, Mae Quinn

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

(Re-)Grasping The Opportunity Interest: Lehr V. Robertson And The Terminated Parent, Lashanda Taylor Adams

Journal Articles

In 1997, an Ohio court terminated Peggy Fugate’s parental rights to her sixyear-old daughter, Selina. At the time, Ms. Fugate, an incarcerated drug abuser, did not fight the order, believing her daughter would be adopted into a clean, stable home.1 However, Selina was never adopted. For the next seven years, Selina had trouble with the police and ran away from her foster home numerous times. While Selina’s life was going downhill in many respects, her mother was rehabilitating. She entered recovery, married, obtained full-time employment and was living in stable housing with enough room for her daughter. Recognizing the strides …

The Unreviewable Irredeemable Child: Why The District Of Columbia Needs Reverse Waiver, Jamie Stevens

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

In 2005 the U.S. Department of Justice estimated that adult criminal courts prosecuted 23,000 cases involving defendants under the age of eighteen nationwide. 2 This means that those defendants faced conviction and sentencing in adult courts. Transfer of those under eighteen into adult criminal court has become the states' first line of defense in the fight against youth crime. However, recent Supreme Court decisions have cast doubt on the wisdom, and even the constitutionality of that approach. Roper v. Simmons held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the death penalty for anyone under eighteen years of age. 3 Graham v. Florida …

The Other Missouri Model: Systemic Juvenile Injustice In The Show-Me State, Mae C, Quinn

Journal Articles

For years Missouri has been touted as a model for juvenile justice. Stakeholders and commentators continually declare that the Show-Me State – with its “Missouri Model” – employs the most modern and innovative ap-proaches when it comes to treatment of court-involved youth. This account is reflected in press coverage, television news shows, and agency white papers. But this is only part of the picture; there is much more happening in Missouri when it comes to juveniles. However, this “other” part of the story seldom has been openly discussed – until now.1. This Article seeks to contrast the rosy picture painted …

Giving Kids Their Due: Theorizing A Modern Fourteenth Amendment Framework For Juvenile Defense Representation, Mae C. Quinn

Journal Articles

This Essay advocates expansion of the right to and role of juvenile-defense counsel under the Fourteenth Amendment as articulated by the Supreme Court in In re Gault. It makes this move in light of the evolution of juvenile-court practices over time and modern understandings of adolescent development principles. In doing so it takes a different approach than many advocates and academics who have called for greater reliance on the concepts established in Gideon v. Wainwright and its progeny, relating to the right to and role of counsel in adult-criminal proceedings. Instead it suggests that standards of representation for juveniles must …

Introduction: Evolving Standards In Juvenile Justice From Gault To Graham And Beyond, Mae C. Quinn

Journal Articles

This collection of articles explores the ongoing evolution of juvenile justice standards, sharing important theoretical insights about the current state of the law as well as experience-based lessons from committed juvenile practitioners who confront important youth justice issues in our communities and courts. It is being published in conjunction with Washington University‘s 12th annual Access to Equal Justice Colloquium, which this year sought to bring together stakeholders from the national, state, and local levels to share and build juvenile justice expertise during a day-long conference.2 Our goal was to consider where we have been, where we are now, and where …

The Child Online Privacy Protection Act: The Relationship Between Constitutional Rights And The Protection Of Children, Sasha Grandison

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Offer They Can't Refuse: Racial Disparity In Juvenile Justice And Deliberate Indifference Meet Alternatives That Work, Edgar Cahn, Cynthia Robbins

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

While young people of all races commit delinquent acts, some are provided treatment while others are detained and incarcerated. Once incarcerated, these youth begin their slide down a slippery slope; they lack an equal opportunity to gather evidence and prepare their cases. Furthermore, they will be effectively deprived of the opportunity and the resources to develop the educational and employment skills necessary to progress to productive adult lives. It is well documented that juveniles of color are more likely than their white counterparts to be arrested,1 referred to juvenile court rather than to diversion programs, charged,waived to adult court, detained …

Resurrecting Parents Of Legal Orphans: Un-Terminating Parental Rights, Lashanda Taylor Adams

Journal Articles

Despite federal and state legislation that requires termination of parental rights when a child has remained in foster care for a specified period of time, studies indicate that relationships with their biological parents (and other relatives) remain important to children in foster care.3 Especially for children whose parents’ parental rights have been terminated, the connection with their biological parent remains central to their development and these children make efforts to maintain that connection. Once it becomes clear that the purpose for terminating the parental rights (i.e., freeing the child for adoption) will not be served, in an increasing number of …

Changing The Narrative: Convincing Courts To Distinguish Between Misbehavior And Criminal Conduct In School Referral Cases, Marsha L. Levick, Robert G. Schwartz

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Litigation Landmines: Obtaining Attorneys Fees In Conditions Of Confinement. Litigation After Bloomberg V. Christina A, Mark Soler

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Abuse of children in state institutions is a longstanding and notorious problem.1 Advocates for children have successfully brought federal civil rights litigation over the past thirty years to protect the lives, safety, and rights of children in jails,2 juvenile detention facilities, 3 and state corrections institutions. 4 In recent years, however, such litigation has become more difficult as a result of enactment of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) 5 and an array of United States Supreme Court decisions. In a number of decisions over the past two decades, the Supreme Court has significantly restricted the rights of prisoners and …

Race And National Origin As Influential Factors In Juvenile Detention, Arthur L. Burnett Sr.

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

The focus of this Article, however, is on the more pervasive problem of overzealous police officers acting on less than probable cause or even less than reasonable articulable suspicion. Police officers may frequently act on hunches or suspicions with the attitude that their actions will not be questioned, especially when the victim is a minor and may not be savvy enough to know his or her legal rights. Officers may believe they can act with impunity because of the combination of socio-economic conditions in public housing areas and in other low-income housing areas, or where there are a substantial number …

Substituting Secure Detention For Shelter Care: An Illegal Deprivation Of Liberty, Susan M. Johlie

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Judges sitting on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia routinely order children into secure detention who require no more restrictive confinement than that provided by shelter care. Despite a statutory presumption against detention, and a superior court rule that prohibits substituting secure detention for shelter care,' the District inappropriately places children into secure detention simply because there is a lack of bed space in youth shelter houses. The deprivation of liberty that occurs when a juvenile is placed in secure detention rather than shelter care is required neither for the protection of the community nor for the welfare …