Posts in 'Amicus Curiae'

Challenged parental visitation policies for parents of children in foster care.

Challenged the presence of armed juvenile probation officers in school buildings.

Argued against a per se rule removing a well-cared-for and loved child from a home because of a parent’s drug use.

Argued that juveniles should be afforded the right to a jury trial in delinquency proceedings.

Argued on behalf of a student who had been suspended for writing a fake MySpace page that made derogatory statements about the student's principal.

Argued that Petitioner Bunch's sentence is unconstitutional pursuant to the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Graham v. Florida, which held that juvenile offenders cannot be sentenced to life without parole without a meaningful and realistic opportunity to re-enter society prior to the expiration of their sentences for non-homicide offenses.

Argued that a life without parole sentence for felony murder violates the United States Constitution as well as international law.

Argued that a court should not consider an individual's juvenile record when deciding whether to impose the death penalty on him or her as an adult.

Juvenile Law Center's brief, filed in the United States Supreme Court, argued to affirm the Ninth Circuit's decision that the 4th Amendment warrant/probable cause protections applied to a nine-year-old girl due to law enforcement involvement in her seizure and questioning at school.

Argued that juvenile adjudications should not be used to enhance adult sentences, since in juvenile court there is no jury, the culture is non-adversarial, defense attorneys are often overburdened and poorly resourced, unreliable evidence is often used, and appellate rights are either nonexistent or underutilized.