In Re Gault

Date: May 15, 1967

Citation: 387 U.S. 1

Issue: Juvenile justice

Significance: The Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, provided for the rights of juveniles accused of committing crimes

Justice Abe Fortas, writing for an 8-1 majority, upheld a habeas corpus petition for a fifteen-year-old boy who had been sent to a juvenile detention center without notice to his parents. The Supreme Court ruled that juveniles had to be accorded the same rights of notice, rights to legal counsel and to confront and cross-examine witnesses, and privilege against self-incrimination as were accorded to adults under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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For most of the twentieth century, juveniles were treated differently than adults in the belief that juveniles should have less adversarial, more informal adjudication of criminal activity. As the numbers of juveniles committing crimes rose, calls for more control increased. In a parallel development, the Court, under Chief Justice Earl Warren, also attempted to increase the protections for those accused of crimes, including juveniles, as in this ruling. In his partial dissent, Justice John M. Harlan II questioned whether Gault was a proper use of the due process clause. Justice Potter Stewart dissented, arguing that the decision made the juvenile and adult systems too similar.

Bibliography

Abadinsky, Howard. "Juvenile Justice." Law, Courts, and Justice in America. 7th ed. Long Grove: Waveland, 2014. 356–78. Print.

Dorsen, Norman, and Daniel A. Rezneck. "In Re Gault and the Future of Juvenile Law." Family Law Quarterly 1.4 (1967): 1–46. Print.

Kurlychek, Megan. "Juvenile Court." Wiley Online Library. Wiley, 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2016.

Gold, Susan Dudley. In Re Gault: Do Minors Have the Same Rights as Adults? New York: Marshall, 2008. Print. Supreme Court Milestones.

Tanenhaus, David S. The Constitutional Rights of Children: In re Gault and Juvenile Justice. Lawrence: UP of Kansas, 2011. Print.