Youth Defense Systems
Fact sheet on the use of shackling in youth court.
There is an immediate and predominant need for specialized training in juvenile defense: training is both the foundation and the gateway to comprehensive advocacy by juvenile defenders, and it is key to ensuring that youths’ constitutionally mandated due process rights are protected. To be effective and zealous advocates, juvenile defenders must develop a set of…
The defender’s unique challenge is to be the advocate—the voice—of the child. To meet this challenge, and to be able to offer the court the expressed interests of the child, the juvenile defender must master a diverse set of skills to uphold core ethical obligations and to help clients navigate the complexities of the justice…
The Ten Core Principles for Providing Quality Delinquency Representation through Public Defense Delivery Systems provide criteria by which a public defense delivery system may fully implement the holding of In re Gault. These Principles offer guidance to public defense leaders and policymakers regarding the role of public defenders, contract attorneys, or assigned counsel in delivering…
Provides a framework for developing effective youth defense systems.
The Gault Ctr. (October 2023). This resource provides an overview of the constitutional and federal laws that are implicated when young people are placed in juvenile or adult facilities and includes concrete examples of common violations. This resource offers an introduction for youth defenders on how to spot federal and constitutional violations based on conditions…
This resource is part of the Youth Defender Advocacy Program (YDAP) curriculum, a specialized trial advocacy training program for youth defenders.
From the introduction: “The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the dangers of the juvenile legal system; this should make it harder to look away from the societal inequities that are exacerbated by youth incarceration. Indeed, the current moment, including the unprecedented nationwide protests in response to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in…
From the introduction: “Although not a conviction for immigration purposes, a delinquency adjudication still can create problems for immigrants. Certain grounds of inadmissibility (bars to obtaining legal status) and deportability (loss of current legal status) do not depend upon conviction; mere “bad acts” or status can trigger the penalty. The following are commonly applied conduct-based…
Creates a case for holding states liable for abdicating their duty to ensure that all children have zealous representation.
This guide contains databases and webpages helpful to identify reliable statistics on race and ethnicity within the juvenile legal system. Some sources provide only national data, while others provide state and local data by jurisdiction.
Limited Justice: An Assessment of Access to and Quality of Juvenile Defense Counsel in Kansas (2020)
This assessment of access to counsel and quality of representation for Kansas youth is part of a nationwide effort to systematically review and provide information about the provision of defense counsel in delinquency proceedings. The purpose of a state assessment is to provide policymakers, legislators, defense leadership, and other stakeholders with a thorough understanding of…
The purpose of a state assessment is to provide policymakers, legislators, defense leadership, and other stakeholders with a thorough understanding of children’s access to counsel in the state, to identify structural and systemic barriers that impede effective representation of children, to analyze how fee and cost structures inhibit young people’s access to justice, to highlight…
