Surveillance
Summarizes what young people are saying about juvenile probation and offers a visual timeline highlighting the historical lineage of probation as a form of racialized social control.
Examines young people’s experiences on juvenile probation and the racialized history of juvenile probation in our country.
This sample motion argues for special discovery and dismissal and/or suppression based on a claim of selective prosecution in a jaywalking case. Highlighting local police data on racial disparities in jaywalking-related stops, this motion argues that police conduct had a discriminatory effect on Black youth in Cincinnati, in violation of their state and federal equal…
This supplemental memorandum is related to the sample motion to dismiss and/or suppress evidence based on selective prosecution, which argues for special discovery and dismissal and/or suppression based on a claim of selective prosecution in a jaywalking case. This supplemental memorandum outlines Ohio’s Equal Protection guarantee in the context of the impact of implicit racial…
In October 2025, the Gault Center convened over three hundred youth defense lawyers and advocates at our annual Youth Defender Leadership Summit. Together, we practiced the cultivation of community in service of building a more just, more liberated, and more human humanity for all children and for us all. This resource captures the shared learnings…
This article focuses on the policies and practices of community supervision programs, and the impact they have on individuals with disabilities, including discriminatory practices that prevent disabled individuals from successfully completing probation or parole. From the introduction: ” This Article addresses disability discrimination in community supervision programs, a large—but frequently overlooked—component of the criminal legal…
The Center for Democracy & Technology released a report on the current status of AI use in schools and emerging risks. This report covers the interaction of AI with the classroom, students, IEPs, literacy, deepfakes, student activity monitoring, and student privacy. From the report: “Artificial intelligence (AI) has continued to alter the educational experiences of…
“For decades, in the summertime, America has confined certain of its youth in what are essentially open-air heat camps. In city after city, camp-form is established through the enactment of warm-weather juvenile curfews which keep the youth at home or in state-sponsored centers during summer nights and, increasingly, during days as well. Local governments justify…
This memorandum from the American Civil Liberties Union provides litigation strategies for defenders challenging electronic monitoring conditions for young people with disabilities. From the Introduction to the memorandum: “Overall, this research project/memo aims to reduce the use of EM for kids with disabilities. Although there is no straightforward disability or accommodations-related argument for ending EM…
This research report by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund provides an in-depth overview of the “At-Risk Youth Program” created by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office in Tampa Bay, Florida. The Pasco County sheriff’s office relied on a “rudimentary, person-based predictive policing system” based on inherently biased criteria to identify young people who were “destined to…
The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) released a report on the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on students in schools. CDT surveyed students, teachers, and parents to understand the prevalence of deepfakes and related issues in K-12 schools. The report offers an overview of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), the impact of current responses…
This report reviews the expanding infrastructure of police surveillance in public schools and highlights the failure of AI technologies and digital surveillance in making schools safer. Further, the report discusses the harms these technologies may cause to Black and Latine youth and youth from other historically vulnerable communities. Calling on youth justice advocates, youth leaders,…
This research report by the ACLU provides an overview of surveillance technology (“EdTech Surveillance”) industry in K-12 schools and critically explores the industry’s claims, the efficacy of the products, and their impacts on students and schools. The report also provides recommendations for best protecting students and promoting better surveillance technology decision-making among elected officials, school…
From the executive summary: “• Police increasingly replace stop-and-frisk practices with databases that crudely profile Black and Latinx youth based on their neighborhoods, peer groups, and clothing. • These databases ruin lives: police typecast minority youths as gang members without evidence, putting them at risk of false arrest and wrongful deportation. • Many police departments…
From the resource: “This poster is a tool to assess and understand differences between reforms that strengthen imprisonment and abolitionist steps that reduce its overall impact and grow other possibilities for wellbeing. As we work to dismantle incarceration in all its forms, we must resist common reforms that create or expand cages anywhere, including under…
This article discusses the legal landscape of school surveillance, including digital and artificial intelligence surveillance, through the lens of Fourth Amendment and federal privacy laws. From the Abstract: “Since the Covid-19 pandemic, schools have escalated their use of educational technology to improve students’ in-school and at-home learning. Although educational technology has many educational benefits for…
From the introduction: “This brief offers context on the youth criminalization crisis in the United States. We then outline a series of harmful elements in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Specifically, we review provisions that: • Increase funding for threat assessments, surveillance, and greater police presence in schools; • Expand data-sharing between law enforcement and…
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Social Costs of Pretrial Electronic Monitoring in San Francisco
This report features findings from in-depth interviews from 66 people who were court-ordered to electronic monitoring (EM) in San Francisco County, California. Highlighting the nature and difficulties program participants face while trying to comply with EM programs, the report demonstrates the harms of EM, including finding safe housing, securing employment, social isolation, trouble maintaining physical and emotional connections to loved ones, and increased likelihood of new contacts with law enforcement. From…
This article from Education Week examines the implications of the Pasco County sheriff’s office in Florida using school data and records from the Department of Children and Families to create a list of students that were “at-risk for a life of crime.” Data privacy experts shared with the media that the actions of the Sheriff’s…
