Pennsylvania Juvenile Defenders

Website made possible with the generous support of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Publications and Resources

Pennsylvania Juvenile Collateral Consequences Checklist

Performance Guidelines for Quality and Effective Juvenile Delinquency Representation

Rules of Juvenile Court Procedure: Delinquency Matters

The Juvenile Act 2008

Northeast Regional Defender Center

In order to increase the capacity of the grassroots juvenile defense bar across the country, the National Center incorporated into its design the development of nine Regional Defender Centers. The Northeast Region includes the following four states: Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

State and Local Defender Sites

Kansas Supreme Court Grants Juvenile Jury Trial Right

Congratulations to Paul Shipp and Kansas Legal Aid for today’s win in In re L.M., No. 06-96197, in which the Kansas Supreme Court found that juveniles have a constitutional right to jury trials in delinquency proceedings. The Juvenile Law Center filed an amicus brief with nine sign-on organizations and individuals from all over the country. Juvenile Law Center’s amicus brief argued that L.M. was entitled to a jury trial because of the harsh and punitive consequences of registering as a sex offender.

You can read JLC’s brief, and the Kansas Supreme Court’s opinion. The Kansas Supreme Court held that changes to the Kansas Juvenile Justice Code since 1984 have so “eroded the benevolent, child-cognizant, rehabilitative, and parens patriae character that distinguished it from the adult criminal system,” that juveniles have a constitutional right to a jury trial under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, and under the Kansas Constitution.

Congratulations again on this important victory!