Due Process Protections for Youth: Defense Counsel Policies and Disparity in the Juvenile Justice System

This monograph illuminates the connections between juvenile defense policies and the racially disparate impact of the juvenile justice system. The limited data that exist on youth in the juvenile justice system consistently depict disparate contact and outcomes for black youth across the system. The broad rehabilitative goals of the U.S. juvenile justice system, along with the "best interest" legal standard of the child welfare system, muddle the protection of youth due process rights. Stat...