Adolescent Development
Principle 3: Adolescents develop at different rates socially, emotionally, physically, & cognitively
This is the third in a 7-part training video series for juvenile and family court judges on concepts of adolescent development. In this video, Dr. Antoinette Kavanaugh explains the science behind adolescent development and how it impacts youth decision-making.
This is the fourth in a 7-part training video series for juvenile and family court judges on concepts of adolescent development. In this video, Dr. Antoinette Kavanaugh discusses how prior traumatic experiences may influence how young people interact with others and their environment.
This is the second of a 7-part training video series for juvenile and family court judges on concepts of adolescent development. In this video, Judge Ernestine S. Gray discusses how developmental concepts argue against harsher treatment of young people.
This is the first in a 7-part training video series for juvenile and family court judges on concepts of adolescent development. This video includes the introduction, followed by Judge Karen Ashby discussing the U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence relevant to adolescent development.
Executive Director, Mary Ann Scali at John Jay College on Young People, Justice, and Defending Children
This amicus brief from the Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior highlights the adolescent capacity for significant growth and social maturation as well as criminological evidence on the unlikelihood of reoffending and responsiveness to evidence-based treatment among youth accused of sex offenses. The brief ultimately calls for the court to find that a de facto life without parole sentence is grossly disproportionate based on developmental science and research. From the Summary of Argument: “Evan McCarrick Jerald is…
Abstract: “While there has been momentum at both the federal and state levels to curtail extreme punishments for justice-involved juveniles (The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, 2023), 22 states continue to permit the sentence of juvenile life without parole (JLWOP). Pennsylvania is among them. This essay focuses on judicial rationale in five JLWOP re-sentencing cases in…
This article calls for the categorical exclusion of young children from juvenile court jurisdiction as a pathway toward the abolition of the juvenile legal system in its current form. This article highlights the landscape of age-based jurisdictional boundaries across the country: 24 states have no minimum age of arrest and prosecution, while 18 states have…
A concentration of a few states has unevenly complied with Miller and the possibility of resentencing provided by Montgomery. Some states have refused to comply at all. This uneven implementation of the Miller decision has a particularly profound impact on racial disparities among those serving JLWOP. An analysis of those deemed worth protecting from JLWOP…
This paper is part of the Series on Learning from Civil Rights Lawsuits from the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse and focuses on parole review procedures for individuals serving long sentences for crimes committed under age 18, discusses constitutional dimensions of parole review for this group, and proposes model policies supporting a meaningful opportunities for release. From the Executive Summary: “In recent years, people serving…
From the introduction: “In In re Personal Restraint of Asaria Miller, at the urging of merits counsel from the University of Washington’s Race and Justice Clinic, supported by amicus counsel from Seattle University School of Law’s Civil Rights Clinic, the Washington State Court of Appeals took an important step in accounting for the ways that…
