Juvenile Justice Committee

About the JJ Committee | Criminal Justice Section | ABA Standards & Policies

About the JJ Committee

The Juvenile Justice Committee of the ABA Criminal Justice Section is an active voice in promoting changes in the juvenile justice system. The Committee is an interdisciplinary forum of defenders, judges, prosecutors, corrections staff, law students, and others interested in improving the juvenile justice system for kids, parents, and the professionals who serve them.

Members of the committee have the opportunity to become involved in projects including working groups, subcommittees, publications, site visits, and bestowing the committee's annual award. Through working groups, members engage in substantive projects to further juvenile justice reform – gathering testimony, researching and analyzing laws that apply to children, producing reports and monographs, and advocating for thoughtful and balanced reform. Ad Hoc subcommittees are formed to consider and respond to important issues of the day. Members have many opportunities to publish and participate in writing projects including books, monographs, standards, and articles for publication in ABA journals and magazines. Site visits include trips to juvenile courts, detention centers, correctional facilities, and prevention/intervention programs around the country. Committee members are also eligible to help select the annual ABA Livingston Hall Juvenile Justice Award winner.

Criminal Justice Section

The Juvenile Justice Committee is part of the Criminal Justice Section of the American Bar Association. For more information about CJS, please see its home page. Past issues of the Criminal Justice Magazine have included various articles on juvenile justice-related topics.

Information about becoming an ABA member is available here.

ABA Standards & Policies

The American Bar Association and the Institute of Judicial Administration published a 24-volume set of annotated standards related to juvenile justice. For information about ordering a copy, please see our standards page.

The ABA House of Delegates has approved various policies relating to juvenile justice. These policies, which are published with reports explaining their backgrounds and rationales, are available on our policies page.