Posts in 'Amicus Curiae'

Argued in support of Washington State’s standard for sealing juvenile records because it is aligned with U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence in treating child offenders differently than adults and making it easier for children to seal their records upon completion of their sentences.

Juvenile Law Center filed an amicus brief in the Ohio Supreme Court on behalf of Brandon Moore, who received a sentence of 112 years for non-homicide offenses he committed when he was only 15 years-old.

Argued that the juvenile court erred by waiving its jurisdiction of a youth and transferring the youth to adult court based on the charged offense alone, without an individualized determination of the youth's maturity, culpability, and capacity for change.

Argued that rulings on discretionary transfers from juvenile to adult criminal court are subject to immediate appeal.

Challenging a Kentucky juvenile detention center’s policy of conducting suspicionless strip searches on juveniles arrested on minor violations

Argued that the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles in Miller should apply retroactively to inmates like Mares, who was sentenced prior to the Miller ruling.

Argued that the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles in Miller should apply retroactively to inmates like Soto, Tulloch, Dingman, and Lopez, who were sentenced prior to the Miller ruling.

Argued that the sentences imposed on two juveniles under Indiana's felony murder statute conflict with U.S. Supreme Court precedent, as well as established research on adolescent brain science. On September 18, 2015 the Indiana Supreme Court issued an opinion.

Argued that the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles in Miller should apply retroactively to inmates like Jones, who was sentenced prior to the Miller ruling.

Argued that the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles in Miller should apply retroactively to inmates like Gordon, who was sentenced prior to the Miller ruling.