Section 1 InGeneral

• Library: Juvenile Law 2011

In 1966, the United States Supreme Court decided Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541 (1966), the first of two major cases that shaped the parameters of juveniles’ constitutional rights. Justice Fortas, in delivering the opinion of the Court, challenged society to stop paying lip service to its juvenile court philosophy of parens patriae and to pay the price to make that philosophy effective in practice.

In Kent, an intruder entered the apartment of a woman in the District of Columbia and robbed and raped her. Police discovered fingerprints in her apartment that matched those of Morris A. Kent, Jr., a 16-year-old juvenile. Kent was taken into custody by the police and interrogated without the knowledge of either his parents or the juvenile court. No counsel was present at the time of interrogation, and Kent was not advised of his right to counsel or of his right to remain silent. While in detention, he was fingerprinted.

The juvenile court waived jurisdiction of Kent without a hearing and directed that he be transferred to the district court, where he was tried as an adult. His statements and the fingerprints taken during detention were presented as evidence. Kent was convicted, but the United States Supreme Court reversed the decision on the ground that the trial was illegal. The Court found that the procedure used to obtain the convicting evidence was in direct violation of the Juvenile Code of the District of Columbia.

Justice Fortas outlined the Court’s view of the purpose of the juvenile...