Juvenile Law Center and The Gault Center Amicus Brief, G.A.W. v. Illinois

This amicus brief by The Juvenile Law Center and The Gault Center argues that young people have a constitutional right to a jury trial pursuant to the 6th and 14th Amendment, in cases with serious consequences, such as sex offenses with numerous collateral consequences, in juvenile court, without “comparable adult procedural protections”.

Further, the brief argues the rationale in McKeiver v. Pennsylvania no longer applies as juvenile courts are more akin to the adult criminal legal system and McKeiver was a plurality opinion with no definitive consensus.

The Supreme Court denied certiorari in this case.