ARTICLE TAG

National Juvenile Defender Center

Youth Services Insider
Groups are urging the Biden administration to discourage states from collecting fines and fees from incarcerated youth.

6/9/2021

Groups Urge Justice Department to Reinstate Obama Stance on Juvenile Fines, Fees

Groups are urging the Biden administration to discourage states from charging fees and fines to incarcerated juveniles, saying they unfairly load debt on low-income youth and their families.

4/1/2020

Calls to Release Youth from Lockups Due to Virus Threat Grow Nationwide

With most free residents across the United States keeping at least six feet apart, feverishly washing their hands and avoiding any social groups, 43,000 young people in juvenile lockups and prisons are living in coronavirus petri dishes that have become “brewing reservoirs” of infection, according to inmates and juvenile justice experts.

7/24/2017

Report Finds Quality of Juvenile Representation in Delaware Troubling

A recent report released by the National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) outlines areas of concern for the legal representation provided to youth in Delaware. Released last week, An Assessment of Access to Counsel and Quality of Representation in Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings identifies systemic barriers limiting quality and access to juvenile defense services, and determines there is an urgent need for specialized lawyers to represent juveniles.

Youth Services Insider
Youth Services Insider logo

5/18/2017

In Both Systems, Unfulfilled Promises on Protecting Kids in Court

Fifty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court provided a blanket of protection against railroading youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Seven years later, Congress attempted to do the same for children involved in child welfare proceedings.

5/17/2017

After Gault, Ideas About How to Protect Children’s Right to Counsel

15-year-old Arizona boy Gerald Francis Gault was taken into custody for allegedly making an obscene prank phone call to a neighbor in June 1964. His parents were not notified of his arrest.

11/23/2016

Report Offers Blueprint for Building Better Juvenile Representation System

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s In re Gault decision that established the right of children to counsel in juvenile court. In opening the way for a system of legal representation for youth in the juvenile justice system, the court famously declared that “[u]nder our Constitution, the condition of being a boy does not justify a kangaroo court.”

    1/25/2013

    Colorado: An Assessment of Access to Counsel and Quality of Representation in Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings

    The National Juvenile Defender Center assessed, and then slammed, Colorado’s system for providing legal defense to juveniles. This quote sums it up: “It is not that people willfully work against the system; there is just no concerted effort to work for it.”