NCJ Number
165985
Editor(s)
D G Rojek,
G F Jensen
Date Published
1996
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This paper presents excerpts from the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the processing of juvenile Gerald Gault (1967), which stated that juveniles have a right to due process of law.
Abstract
Justice Fortas, who wrote the opinion, delivered an indictment of the juvenile court when he stated, "Under our Constitution, the condition of being a boy does not justify a kangaroo court." Many of the basic rights that are taken for granted in the adult court were not granted to Gault, such as the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to cross-examine witnesses. Justices Harlan and Stewart did not agree with the other members of the Court. Justice Harlan stated that "the Court has gone too far," and Justice Stewart argued that "the Court's decision is wholly unsound as a matter of constitutional law, and sadly unwise as a matter of judicial policy." In a concurring opinion, however, Justice Black stated that "Where a person, infant or adult, can be seized by the State, charged, and convicted for violating a State criminal law, and then ordered by the State to be confined for 6 years, I think the Constitution requires that he be tried in accordance with the guarantees of all the provisions of the Bill of Rights made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment."