Right to Counsel in Juvenile Court 50 Years After In re Gault.

The 20th century U.S. Supreme Court advanced the Constitutional rights of adult criminal defendants. Although far reaching in their impact, these constitutional protections were not afforded to juveniles. For example, the Supreme Court held in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) that indigent adult defendants in felony cases have a right to counsel as a matter of due process, but did not extend this right to juvenile defendants. Similarly, the Court affirmed in Miranda v. Arizona (1966) that the Fifth Amendment protects adults, but not juveniles, from selfincrimination during police interrogation. Youth involved with the courts are processed in a separate judicial system formalized in the late 19th century, which until 1967, lacked many of the due process rights accorded adults, including the right to counsel. Since the establishment of a separate juvenile court system, these courts have been responsible for: