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- Title
ACKNOWLEDGING AND PROTECTING AGAINST JUDICIAL BIAS AT FACT-FINDING IN JUVENILE COURT.
- Authors
Loveland, Prescott
- Abstract
As a public defender, I often represent young people from twelve to seventeen years old in juvenile court. My juvenile clients face a wide range of accusations and they come from various family circumstances. Nearly all of my juvenile clients, however, are young people of color from under-resourced communities. Many find themselves arrested for typical adolescent behavior and others are accused crimes that they did not commit. When counseling juvenile clients, I carefully explain the nuances of the juvenile justice system that is now aggressively examining their lives. I strive to provide information that will help them make informed decisions in court proceedings that treat them like adults despite their still-developing adolescent brains. To some of my clients, for example, I must explain that unless your behavior is nearly perfect in the coming months, you may not be home with your family for a long time. To many clients, I must explain the role of the judge in juvenile court. Despite what you have seen on television, of explain, a judge--not a jury--will decide whether or not you are "guilty" of the "crime" that you are accused of. When making this decision, the judge will be aware of all sorts of information that the judge is not permitted to consider. The judge, for example, knows if you have been in trouble before. The judge knows your family's financial struggles, your challenges at school, and the difficulties you may have had following court orders. The judge might even know if you have not been following the rules at home. To some clients, I also explain that the judge will know about your statement to the police even after the judge tosses it from the case because you did not "confess" voluntarily. I explain that the law requires us to act as if the juvenile court judge is simply able to ignore all this information when making the decision about whether you did what the police say you did. At this point, juveniles often become aware that the juvenile court process has some dangerously unfair features.
- Subjects
PREVENTION of judicial bias; LEGAL status of juvenile prisoners; JUVENILE offenders -- Trials, litigation, etc.; CRIMINAL justice system; JUVENILE delinquency; DISCRIMINATION in juvenile justice administration
- Publication
Fordham Urban Law Journal, 2017, Vol 45, Issue 1, p283
- ISSN
0199-4646
- Publication type
Article