Give Juveniles Their Due
"During the summer of 1964, 15-year-old Gerald Gault was accused of making obscene phone calls to a neighbor. Gault, who was on probation at the time, was quickly arrested and put in a juvenile detention center without his parents ever being notified. At “trial,” Gault was questioned by the judge in the judge’s chambers without a lawyer. And despite the fact that his neighbor never testified, Gault was ultimately found delinquent and sentenced to serve six years in a state industrial school."
Prya Murad for The Marshall Project (5/15/17)