Posts in 'Amicus Curiae'

Sex Offender Registration of Children (SORNA)
Kansas Supreme Court •
Argued that the court should recognize a youth’s constitutional right to a jury trial when he faces public sex offender registration upon conviction of sex offenses under Kansas’ juvenile court statute.
Youth Tried as Adults
Nevada Supreme Court •
Briefed the issue of constitutionality of a state certification statute that requires juveniles, in violation of their right to due process and against self-incrimination, to admit guilt in order to rebut the presumption of certification to adult court.
Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)
Massachusetts Superior Court •
Juvenile Law Center’s brief argues that the mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole imposed on a 16-year-old is a disproportionate punishment under the U.S. and Massachusetts Constitutions.
Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)
California Courts of Appeal •
Argued that a juvenile’s 75-year sentence for a crime in which the victims suffered no serious injury is disproportionate and violates state, federal and international law.
Records
California Supreme Court •
Argued that the use of delinquency adjudications to enhance an adult criminal sentence violates US Supreme Court precedent as well as California's commitment to maintaining a separate juvenile justice system.
Youth Interrogations & Access to Counsel
U.S. Supreme Court •
Argued in support of a 13-year-old student who was subjected to a strip search at school without reasonable suspicion.
Sex Offender Registration of Children (SORNA)
Ohio Supreme Court •

Juvenile Law Center argued that juvenile court should retain discretion to spare children from permanent stigma associated with lifetime sex offender registration.

Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)
U.S. Supreme Court •

Juvenile Law Center argued that life without parole sentences for juveniles convicted of non-homicide crimes are unconstitutional.

Youth Interrogations & Access to Counsel
Washington Supreme Court •
This brief argued that students have the right to counsel at the initial stage of a truancy proceeding under juvenile court jurisdiction.
Youth Interrogations & Access to Counsel
Illinois Supreme Court •
Supporting a juvenile defendant in Illinois who challenged the representation he received in court, when his defense lawyer sacrificed his defense believing that it was in the child’s "best interests."