Gault at 50: Ensuring Counsel for LGBTQ Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

This blog was co-authored by Christina J. Gilbert, Staff Attorney and Policy Counsel, National Juvenile Defender Center

In 1967, the United States Supreme Court held in In re Gault that children have a constitutional right to a lawyer in juvenile court. But, nearly 50 years after that landmark decision, too many children continue to face police interrogation, court proceedings, and confinement without the protection of an attorney. Not surprisingly, this reality leaves them vulnerable to incalculable harm.

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