Discuss how the In re Gault decision affected the modern juvenile justice system.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

In 1967, forces opposing the extreme informality of the juvenile court won a major victory when the Supreme Court handed down a decision in the case of Gerald Gault, a juvenile from Arizona. The extreme license taken by members of the juvenile justice network became abundantly clear in the Gault case. Gault, while a 15-year-old in 1964, was accused of making an obscene phone call to a neighbor who identified him. The neighbor did not appear at the adjudicatory hearing, and it was never demonstrated that Gault had, in fact, made the obscene comments. Still, Gault was sentenced to spend the remainder of his minority in a training school. Neither Gault nor his parents were notified properly of the charges against him. They were not made aware of their right to counsel, their right to confront and cross-examine witnesses, their right to remain silent, their right to a transcript of the proceedings, or their right to appeal. In In re Gault (1967), the Court ruled that juveniles have all of these rights in hearings that may result in institutional commitment. The Court’s decision in this case left little doubt that juvenile offenders are as entitled to the same protection of constitutional guarantees as their adult counterparts, with the exception of participation in a public jury trial.