ABA Juvenile Justice Policies

State, local and territorial bar associations should provide education and training on addressing the disparate treatment of youth and ensure that courts maintain the goal of reducing disparate treatment.
Judges should obtain training on the disparate treatment of youth, promote the use of objective risk assessments, guard against overcharging, ensure meaningful access to counsel, and maintain a jurisdictional goal of reducing disparate treatment.
Prosecutors should obtain training on the disparate treatment of youth, ensure their decisions are based on objective criteria, seek alternatives to formal prosecution, and take a leadership role in ensuring reduction in the disparate treatment of youth.
Defenders should obtain training on the disparate treatment of youth, advocate for improved data collection and use of objective risk assessments, ensure that their clients received culturally appropriate services, advocate for community based alternatives to detention, and maintain in active role in reducing disparate treatment.
Police should obtain training on the disparate treatment of youth, keep detailed data regarding their contact and geographic patrolling of youth, be familiar with diversion and community-based programming, work with court personnel to develop community resources, and take a leading role in reducing the disparate treatment of youth.

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'Youth in the Criminal Justice System' Guidelines, February 2002

Recommendation:

RESOLVED, that the American Bar Association supports the following principles derived from the 2001 Report of the Task Force on Youth in the Criminal System of the Criminal Justice Section, Youth in the Criminal Justice System: Guidelines for Policymakers and Practitioners concerning youth in the criminal justice system:

1. youth are developmentally different from adults and these differences should be taken into account;
2. pretrial release or detention decisions regarding youth awaiting trial should reflect their special characteristics;
3. if detained or incarcerated, youth should be housed in institutions or facilities separate from adult institutions or facilities at least until they reach the age of eighteen;
4. youth detained or incarcerated should be provided programs which address their educational, treatment, health, mental, and vocational needs;
5. youth should not be permitted to waive the right to counsel without consultation with a lawyer and without a full inquiry into the youth's comprehension of the right and their capacity to make the choice intelligently, voluntarily and understandingly. Stand-by counsel should be appointed if the right to counsel is voluntarily waived;
6. judges should consider the individual characteristics of the youth during sentencing; and
7. collateral consequences normally attendant to the justice process should not necessarily apply to all youth arrested for crimes committed before age eighteen; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ABA opposes, in principle, the trend toward processing more and younger youth as adults in the criminal justice system and urges policymakers at all levels to take the previously mentioned principles into account in developing and implementing policies involving youth under the age of eighteen.

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Zero Tolerance, February 2001

Recommendation:

RESOLVED, that the American Bar Association supports the following principles concerning school discipline:

1. schools should have strong policies against gun possession and be safe places for students to learn and develop;
2. in cases involving alleged student misbehavior, school officials should exercise sound discretion that is consistent with principles of due process and considers the individual student and the particular circumstances of misconduct; and
3. alternatives to expulsion or referral for prosecution should be developed that will improve student behavior and school climate without making schools dangerous; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ABA opposes, in principle, "zero tolerance" policies that have a discriminatory effect, or mandate either expulsion or referral of students to juvenile or criminal court, without regard to the circumstances or nature of the offense or the student's history.

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Reauthorization of Individuals with Disabilities Act, February 1996

Recommendation:

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association supports reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or enactment of similar legislation, that guarantees children with mental or physical disabilities a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, and opposes efforts to eliminate, weaken or circumvent such legislation.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association encourages lawyers, judges, and state local bar associations to make available legal services to ensure that children with mental or physical disabilities are not deprived of a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, supports inclusion in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or similar legislation provisions that permit individuals to pursue claims through mediation, and supports attorney's fees provisions in federal legislation that help ensure legal assistance for children with disabilities who seek to obtain or continue free appropriate public education.

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Recommendation:

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, local, and territorial governments i) to respect the right of all children, in the United States and its territories, including those rights articulated under the United States Constitution and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and ii) not to discriminate against any child based on the child's citizenship or immigration status or the immigration or citizenship of the child's parents.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association opposes efforts i) to restrict or deny any child in the United States equal access to public education, health care, foster care, or social services on the basis of the child's citizenship or immigration status or the immigration or citizenship status of the child's parents and, ii)to require that persons providing such services verify immigration status.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges respect of the Constitutional rights to due process and civil liberties that apply to all persons in the United States.

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Recommendation:

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association supports the reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act only so long as Congress conducts comprehensive public hearings to determine the effectiveness of the Act and to Examine its future goals and objectives.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That in the event Congress decides to reauthorize the Act, any such reauthorization should include: adherence to an unbiased, responsible agenda for research, development and demonstration programs; diversification of training; guarantees of juveniles; right to counsel; improvement of conditions of confinement; and a commitment to alternatives to confinement; a prohibition on secure confinement of status offenders; elimination of waivers for States which do not comply with the Act's objectives; and strict Congressional oversight of the Act and its implementation.

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Recommendation:

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association supports legislation that would create an office or center of correctional education within the U.S. Department of Education to perform certain functions, including but not limited to the following:

(A) coordinate all adult and juvenile correctional education programs within the Department of Education;
(B) provide technical support to State and local educational agencies and to correctional systems on adult and juvenile correctional educational programs and curricula;
(C) provide an annual report to Congress on the progress of the office or center and the status of adult juvenile correctional education in the United States:
(D) cooperate with other federal agencies carrying out correctional education programs to ensure coordination of such programs;
(E) advise the Secretary of Education on correctional education policy; and
(F) distribute grant funds that may be available for correctional education within the Department of Education; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association supports legislation that provides for funding of vocational education in adult and juvenile correctional institutions and programs through such mechanisms as the Carl D. Perkins Applied Technology Education Act; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association supports legislative initiatives, at the federal and State levels, that specifically recognize, address, and attempt to correct illiteracy within adult and juvenile correctional institutions and programs.

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State and Local Bar Associations should Ensure Quality Counsel for Kids, February 1987

Recommendation:

RESOLVED: That the American Bar Association requests State and local bar associations to determine the extent to which statutory law and court rules in their States guarantee the right to counsel for children in juvenile court proceedings: and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That State and local bar associations are urged to actively participate and support amendments to the statutory law and court rules in their state to bring them into compliance with the Institute of Judicial Administration/ American Bar Association Standards Relating to Counsel for Private Parties; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That State and local bar associations are requested to ascertain the extent to which, irrespective of the language in their State statutory laws and court rules, counsel is in fact provided for children in juvenile court proceedings and the extent to which the quality of representation is consistent with the standards and policies of the American Bar Association; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That State and local bar associations are urged to actively support programs of training and education to ensure that lawyers practicing in juvenile court are aware of the American Bar Association's standards relating to representation of children and provide advocacy which meets those standards.

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Opposing Corporal Punishment in Educational Institutions, August 1985

Recommendation:

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association opposes the use of corporal punishment in institutions where children are cared for or educated and urges that state laws which permit such corporal punishment be amended accordingly.

However, the Association does not oppose such force as is reasonable and necessary to quell a disturbance threatening physical injury to persons or property, to protect persons or property from physical injury, to remove a child causing a disturbance who refuses to cease or leave when so ordered by the authority, or to obtain possession of weapons or other dangerous objects upon the person or within the control of the child. Use of such force and the use of accepted educational techniques and treatment approaches used as behavior modification for seriously disabled children do not constitute corporal punishment.

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OJJDP Support of Defense and Prosecution Services, 1984

Recommendation:

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the assessment and support of adequate defense and prosecution services receive priority attention by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

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Juvenile Death Penalty, 1983

Recommendation:

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association opposes, in principle, the imposition of capital punishment upon any person for any offense committed while under the age of eighteen (18).

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Criminal Justice Section Task Force on Crime, February 1983

Recommendation:

RESOLVED, by the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association That:

I. Except as provided in paragraph II of this Recommendation, the following "Statement of Proposal" portions of the Final Report by the Criminal Justice Section Task Force on Crime approved:

C. Resources for the Criminal Justice System

1. An effective campaign to combat crime requires that the Federal Government make a commitment to provide financial and technological assistance to state and local governments, private nonprofit organizations and neighborhood or community based organizations to enable them to initiate and sustain programs of justice system improvement.
2. Greater financial resources should be allocated by the states and the federal government in order to provide adequate funding for indigent defense services. Furthermore, the American Bar Association should continue to support and press for the creation of a National Center for Defense Services.

E. Juvenile Justice

As a matter of priority, the justice system must resolve to treat the juvenile offender early and recognize that treatment of juveniles merits an investment at least equal to that accorded the treatment of the adult criminal population. It is recommended that a commitment to this priority be demonstrated through the following courses of action:

1. A combined commitment of State, Local and Federal resources to juvenile crime.
2. The exercise of a continued active interest by juvenile authorities in a juvenile, even after the juvenile has left the authorities custody. Furthermore, juvenile justice authorities should assert the responsibilities they have been delegated to exercise in those cases where their jurisdiction over a juvenile is continued, even though the juvenile becomes older than the age at which jurisdiction could have been originally exercised.
3. The following aspects of the Attorney General's Task Force on Violent Crime should receive special attention for implementation:

Recommendation 8, which reads as follows: "The attorney General should direct the National Institute of Justice and other branches of the Department of Justice to conduct research and development on federal and state career criminal programs, including programs for juvenile offenders with histories of criminal violence."

Recommendation 12, which reads as follows: "The Attorney General should exercise leadership in informing the American public about the extent of violent crime. In that connection, the Attorney General should seek to build a national consensus that drug abuse, crime, and violence have no rightful place in the school and, when these conditions are found to exist, vigorous criminal law enforcement should ensue."

Recommendation 60, which reads as follows: "The Attorney General, where appropriate, should expand the use of federal investigative and prosecutorial resources now directed against traditional organized crime activities to the serious criminal activities of youthful street gangs now operating in metropolitan areas of the country.

F. Role of the Legal Profession

The American Bar Association should encourage and assist state and local bar associations to develop and sponsor projects that will be beneficial to the community in preventing and reducing crime. It would also be useful to develop projects providing exposure and insight into the correctional system. These projects, when possible, should also include the involvement of community and service organizations, and other groups of citizens.

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Conditions in Juvenile Detention Facilities, August 1975

Recommendation:

The Commission on Correctional Facilities and Services, joined by the Young Lawyers Section, recommends the adoption of the following resolution:

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges all states promptly to enact and implement legislation to eliminate the deplorable conditions and deficiencies existing in so many of the nation's jails and juvenile detention facilities by authorizing promulgation, monitoring and enforcement of appropriate jail and juvenile detention standards for personnel, conditions, facilities, and programs.

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