Transfer or Bindover or Certification
This checklist can be used to assess the presence of constitutional violations throughout the course of a client’s case. Please refer to the National Youth Defense Systems Standards and their accompanying User Guide for litigation strategies to challenge potential constitutional violations noted in this checklist.
This User Guide provides advocates with a step-by-step outline of how to actualize the vision of the National Youth Defense System Standards to equip and invest in youth defense teams to fight for the liberation of all youth.The User Guide outlines constitutional rights detailed in the System Standards, provides a checklist to assess the presence…
Abstract: “This article demonstrates how advocates can leverage empirical literature regarding adultification bias to craft doctrinal interventions that recognize and remedy the disproportionately harsh treatment of Black youth in the juvenile and adult criminal legal system. Through case examples, all of which I litigated in the Civil Rights Clinic at Seattle University School of Law, I demonstrate how adultification…
This report details findings from the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (The Expert Mechanism), who were appointed by the president of the Human Rights Council in 2021 with a mandate to examine the human rights of Black communities in the U.S. as they relate to police interaction…
From the Introduction of the Paper: “The U.S.’s failure to implement an internationally abiding federal law regulating juvenile justice has important implications on the treatment of incarcerated adolescent populations while incarcerated, rehabilitated, and reintegrated into society. This article will analyze the harmful and outdated legal frameworks and institutional structures of the U.S. juvenile justice systems.…
The Wren Collective (2023). This independent report by the Wren Collective examines youth defense appointment practices in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and finds that juvenile court judges are routinely assigning private attorneys over public defenders to represent youth in juvenile court. Specifically, the public defender’s office was appointed to 25% of the juvenile delinquency cases in…
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…
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.
An annotated bibliography of research on transfer/waiver from Dr. Antoinette Kavanaugh Ph.D., ABPP including research on transfer and recividism, studies on how juvenile court judges weigh transfer factors, and demographic data and analysis on who is transferred to adult court.
From the introduction: “This brief is an accompaniment to a short video documentary, ‘Don’t Abandon Us: Addressing Youth, Crime, and Trauma.’ Both designed to help increase awareness among decision makers on how childhood trauma and adverse experiences can contribute to youth crime and future legal system involvement. In a moment of growing concern about crime,…
This bill amends CA WIC § 707(a) by requiring a court to find by clear and convincing evidence that a minor is not amenable to rehabilitation while under juvenile court jurisdiction and requiring that court’s order to include the reasons supporting a finding that a minor is not amenable to rehabilitation in the juvenile court. This bill…
The Maryland Supreme Court held the Circuit Court did not properly consider Petitioner Howard Davis’ amenability to treatment in any institution, facility, or available programs under Md. Code Ann., Crim. Proc. § 4-202.2(b) and remanded the case, ordering the trial court to apply the principles and conclusions regarding amenability to treatment to Howard Davis’ Case. The court offered the following language in support: “To determine amenability to treatment, the court…
From the abstract: “The term wrongful conviction typically refers to the conviction or adjudication of individuals who are factually innocent. Decades of research has rightfully focused on uncovering contributing factors of convictions of factually innocent people to inform policy and practice. However, in this paper we expand our conceptualization of wrongful conviction. Specifically, we propose…
The Ohio Appellate Court vacated a youth’s convictions and transfer order and offered the following language in support. “Because the juvenile court (1) did not identify all of the factors it considered, i.e., the “other information factors” referenced at the amenability hearing, (2) did not identify or discuss the factual or evidentiary basis for its…
