In re Gault - Significance, Supreme Court Declares Juvenile Justice System Delinquent As To Due Process

Appellants

Paul L. Gault and Marjorie Gault, parents of Gerald Francis Gault, a minor

Appellee

State of Arizona

Appellants' Claim

That the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to accord juvenile criminal defendants the same due process rights given to adults accused of criminal offenses.

Chief Lawyer for Appellants

Norman Dorsen

Chief Lawyer for Appellee

Frank A. Parks, Attorney General of Arizona

Justices for the Court

Hugo Lafayette Black, William J. Brennan, Jr., Tom C. Clark, William O. Douglas, Abe Fortas (writing for the Court), John Marshall Harlan II, Earl Warren, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

Potter Stewart

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

15 May 1967

Decision

Most of the guarantees of procedural due process given to adult defendants at state criminal trials were extended to juveniles.

Related Cases

• Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541 (1966).
• McKeiver v. Pennsylvania, In re Burrus, 403 U.S. 528 (1971).
• Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975).

Further Readings

• Houlgate, Laurence D. The Child and the State: A Normative Theory of Juvenile Rights. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press, 1980.
• Kramer, Donald T., ed. Legal Rights of Children, 2nd ed. Colorado Springs, CO: Shepard's/McGraw-Hill, 1994.
• Mezey, Susan Gluck. Children in Court: Public Policymaking and Federal Court Decisions. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996.