NCJ Number
162301
Journal
Juvenile Justice Update Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (April/May 1996) Pages: 1,2,10,11
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article examines recent court decisions that specify the right to counsel for juvenile offenders and includes suggestions to improve juvenile defense proceedings.
Abstract
There were few defense attorneys in juvenile court prior to 1967. when the United States Supreme Court ruled that a juvenile defendant and parent must be notified of their right to representation. A joint study by the American Bar Association, the Youth Law Center of San Francisco, and the Juvenile Law Center of Philadelphia suggests further improvements to juvenile defense proceedings, including the following: (1) increase the number of defense attorneys and nonlawyer support personnel; (2) obtain funding equity between juvenile defenders and prosecutors and between juvenile and adult defenders; (3) require all lawyers to receive continuing training in juvenile defense; (4) do not use juvenile court as a training ground for new attorneys; (5) guarantee every juvenile counsel from the earliest to the final stages of proceedings with no waiver of counsel; and (6) create a training academy for juvenile defense attorneys equivalent to the federally funded training currently available to juvenile court judges and prosecutors.