Dignity in Schools Campaign Pushout Assessment Checklist & Campaign Development Guide
This school pushout assessment and campaign development guide is a companion tool to Dignity in Schools Campaign’s Model Code on Education and Dignity and Youth Participatory Action Research Project. This checklist tool provides a framework for individuals and groups working in schools to assess school policies and practices around discipline, safety, curriculum, logistics, staffing, and other processes to prevent young people from being pushed…
Read MoreJuvenile Probation Officer Immigration Tip Sheet: General Guidance
Provides tangible opportunities probation officers have to support positive youth development equitably for all youth, regardless of immigration status and circumstances beyond a young person’s control.
Read MoreThe Change that Needs to be Mad – A Shift From Juvenile Life Without Parole to the Use of Rehabilitative Programs in Florida
“Life without parole is the harshest sentence a minor can receive for a homicide offense. Florida is one of a few states that still allow this type of sentence for minors. This sentence violates the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution because it is a cruel and unusual punishment as it locks up a minor for…
Read MoreJuvenile Probation Officer Immigration Tip Sheet: Checklist
A companion checklist for probation officers, walking through key considerations when working with noncitizen youth.
Read MoreR.D.T.M. v. Wofford et al, No. 1:2025cv01141 (E.D. Cal. 2025)
The United States District Court in the Eastern District of California granted a preliminary injunction in immigration removal proceedings for minor T.M., ordering her release. The District Court offered the following language in support: “Petitioner R.D.T.M. is a noncitizen who entered the United States in 2023 as an unaccompanied minor. After entry, she was briefly…
Read MoreJuvenile Court Judge Immigration Tip Sheet: General Guidance
Walks through practical and concrete steps juvenile court judges can take to ensure safe and equitable access to courts for noncitizen and immigrant youth.
Read MoreWalton v. State, 2025 Ala. LEXIS 86 (Ala. 2025)
The Alabama Supreme Court reversed judgment based on the trial court unnecessarily admitting prior youthful offender adjudications and offered the following language in support. “It is doubtful whether evidence of Walton’s prior crimes was relevant at all, because that evidence did not seem to prove “any fact that is of consequence” to the resolution of the…
Read MoreState v. McLain, 2025 ME 87 (Me. 2025)
The Supreme Court of Maine vacated a conviction, finding that custodial statements should have been suppressed because there was no waiver of the privilege against self-incrimination, and offered the following language in support. “McLain did not clearly waive his privilege against self-incrimination and instead answered that it “depend[ed] on the questions” when asked if he…
Read MoreIn re T.A., 2025-Ohio-3079 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025)
The 10th District Ohio Court of Appeals reversed a judgment of voluntary manslaughter because the youth’s admission was not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered and offered the following language in support. “Ultimately, “[t]he purpose of Juv.R. 29(D) is to ensure that any decision by the accused to forgo his or her constitutional right to a trial,…
Read MoreIn re D.M., 2025 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 5402 (Cal. Ct. App. 2025)
The 4th District Court of Appeal in California struck a weapons probation condition and modified an association condition and offered the following language in support. “A term of probation is invalid if it: “‘(1) has no relationship to the crime of which the offender was convicted, (2) relates to conduct which is not in itself criminal, and (3) requires…
Read MoreIn re K.-M. D.C., 2025 Ore. App. LEXIS 1427 (Or. Ct. App. 2025)
The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed a juvenile court’s adjudication of reckless burning, holding that a finding of recklessness requires evidence around a young person’s subjective awareness of risk. This case involved a 13-year-old youth who lit a fire on a grassy hill which spread and ended up damaging several homes. At issue was whether…
Read MoreJ.M. v. State, 2025 Ind. LEXIS 541 (Ind. 2025)
The concurring opinion of the Indiana Supreme Court outlines the standard for youth defense counsel under the 14th Amendment and offers the following language. “A juvenile‘s right to the effective assistance of counsel is the same right an adult enjoys for criminal prosecutions, and juveniles enjoy the right for the same reasons as adults: “The juvenile needs the assistance of counsel…
Read MoreYouth Defender Immigration Tip Sheet: Rights of Noncitizen Youth in Juvenile Court
Offers an overview of the rights of noncitizen youth and strategies for youth defenders to safeguard these rights and mitigate harm throughout the course of representing youth in juvenile court.
Read MoreSchuchardt v. Sousa, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166949 (Idaho Dist. Ct. 2025)
The Idaho District Court rules that an antiloitering city ordinance is unconstitutionally vague and offers the following language in support. “It is a basic principle of due process that an enactment is void for vagueness if its prohibitions are not clearly defined.” Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 108, 92 S. Ct. 2294,…
Read MoreIn re M.T.M.L., 2025 Wash. App. LEXIS 1712 (Wash. Ct. App. 2025)
Jackson v. Anastasio, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 21692 (7th Cir. 2025)
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found that a liberty interest may exist for short periods of solitary confinement in deplorable conditions and offered the following language in support. “Jackson presented evidence showing that he was subjected to three months in appalling conditions of solitary confinement at Pontiac. Taking that evidence as true, Jackson had…
Read MoreIn re A.M., 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 6540 (Tex. Ct. App. 2025)
The 5th Court of Appeals in Texas reversed a trial court’s judgment based on the state’s constitutional violations of the youth’s right to confrontation and offered the following language in support. “There are specific rules in Texas related to the testimony of a child, including the provision of a support person identified as “any person whose…
Read MoreB.C. v. R.B.C., 2025 Ore. App. LEXIS 1404 (Or. Ct. App. 2025)
The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed a juvenile court adjudication based on insufficient evidence and provided the following language in support below. “Our case law makes clear, however, that [a] youth must have done more to be liable as an accomplice.” Youth did not have a legal obligation to refrain from being present or to discourage the behavior of…
Read MorePeople v. Bell, 2025 IL App. (4th) 240929 (Ill. App. Ct. 2025)
The Illinois appellate court reversed the trial court’s sentence of 14 years for an aggravated driving under the influence and reckless homicide conviction based on defense counsel’s failure to produce evidence related to youth-based factors in mitigation. The court offered the following language in support. “Because defendant was a minor when the crash occurred, the…
Read MorePeople v. T.M., 2025 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 5081 (Cal. Ct. App. 2025)
A California appellate court reversed a juvenile court’s disposition order committing a youth to a secure youth treatment facility and offered the following language in support. “Before committing a minor to a secure facility, the court must find no less restrict alternative disposition is suitable. In making this determination, “the court shall consider all relevant…
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