ABA Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System

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Am. Bar. Ass’n (2023). The American Bar Association released an updated version of their ten core principles for effective public defense delivery systems. These principles outline best practices for public defense systems and incorporate decades of case law, defense standards, and nationwide rules and practices. The Ten Principles include: 1) the independence of public defense…

Access to Justice Spotlight: Fines & Fees

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Off. for Access to Just., U.S. Dep’t of Just. (2023). The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Access to Justice issued this report as a follow up on the department’s Fines and Fees Dear Colleague letter. The report spotlights jurisdictions that have eliminated fines and fees for youth and adults through various mechanisms and highlights…

Engaging Black 2SLGBTQIA+ Youth in Advocacy

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Juvenile Court Statistics 2021

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In January 2024, the National Center for Juvenile Justice released their annual report detailing data trends in juvenile courts across the country from 2005 to 2021. This report provides a national snapshot of various trends in delinquency cases, including key demographic patterns across age, gender, and race at various stages of case processing. Notably, in…

The Probation Experience Project: Insights from Young People and Families

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Testimony of Josh Rovner Director of Youth Justice The Sentencing Project In Opposition to SB744 Before the Maryland Senate Committee on the Judiciary

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National Youth Defense System Standards

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Outlines steps that states must take to comply with the minimum requirements of the U.S. Constitution to protect the rights of youth facing deprivations of liberty.

Impact on Child Justice in a World of Digital Courts: Perspectives from the Bench

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Only Young Once: Alabama’s Overreliance on School Pushout and For-Profit Youth Incarceration 

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What We Need to Thrive: A Youth-Led Vision for a Just Alameda County 

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The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Ceres Policy Research Center partnered with youth leaders in Alameda County, California, to assess the current landscape of the juvenile legal system and outline a youth-centered vision for the future. Utilizing a youth participatory action research protocol, this report relied on youth leaders to design and implement…

One in Five: How Mass Incarceration Deepens Inequality and Harms Public Safety

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Developing Statutes for Competence to Stand Trial in Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings: A Guide for Lawmakers

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Futures in the Balance: Examples of How Juvenile Court Hurts Youth and Communities

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Involvement with the delinquency system—including arrests, charges that get dismissed, and adjudications— can create obstacles to a young person’s success. Many youth experience overwhelming hurdles because their juvenile records are available to the public, appear on background checks, or create long-term debt from fines and fees, which can result in denial of employment, housing, loans,…

Futures in the Balance: Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline

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Key Points: Testing limits is normal adolescent behavior. Young people act out, make mistakes, and push boundaries largely because the parts of their brains that regulate these behaviors are still being formed. Diverting youth from the legal system by keeping them in school can result in better life outcomes for young people. The legal system…

Joint Statement on the Importance of Specialization of Judges, Prosecutors, and Defenders in Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings

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Seeing What’s Underneath: A Resource for Understanding Behavior & Using Language in Juvenile Court

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The words we choose have a significant impact on the young people we serve. We may inadvertently use language laden with bias, disapproval, and negative judgment that can impact youths’ perceptions of themselves. Our language can also impact our own thinking and decision-making. In Part I of this guide, we hope to break down some…

Due Process in the Time of COVID: Defenders as First Responders in a Juvenile Court System Struggling with the COVID-19 Pandemic

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In February and March 2020, as COVID-19 spread throughout the United States, NJDC recognized a crisis facing youth involved in the juvenile courts and the attorneys tasked with defending them. The contagious nature of COVID-19 and the public health protocols meant to mitigate transmission heightened risks to the health and wellbeing of youth entering the…

Futures in the Balance: Reforms that Keep Youth in School

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Referring young people to the legal system can negatively impact their life outcomes as it excludes them from school, disconnecting them from learning and engaging in prosocial activities. There may be times when schools need to seek assistance from law enforcement, but for the vast majority of situations, a variety of levers exist outside of…

Futures in the Balance: Myths and Facts About the Impacts of Juvenile Court

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Numerous myths and misconceptions exist about involvement with the juvenile legal system and the effects it can have on a young person’s trajectory to success. Many people have misconceptions about the mostly unrealized benefits of juvenile court, thinking juvenile court is a benevolent system of support that does not lead to longterm negative outcomes. The…

National Juvenile Defender Center Recommendations for the Biden/Harris Administration

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Transforming Juvenile Probation: A Vision for Getting It Right

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The Trajectory of a Traumatized Youth: A Three System Perspective

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Health Services Los Angeles County Letter re Maintaining the Decreased Population of Incarcerated Youth in Los Angeles County

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National Juvenile Defender Center Racial Justice Statement

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To promote justice for all children, the National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) must actively work to counteract the deeply rooted systemic biases that disproportionately impact Black, Latinx, Asian, Native, Indigenous, and all youth who experience disparate treatment because of their race or ethnicity at every stage of the juvenile legal system.

Ambassadors for Racial Justice Call to Action

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