ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews Court involvement in juvenile cases in five important areas: waiver or transfer of jurisdiction to the adult criminal court, and the adjudication or fact-finding process in juvenile court. The other three areas are: police interrogation and searches of juveniles in school settings, preventive detention and the sanctions that can be imposed on juveniles transferred to adult court, including the Court's decisions on the death penalty and life without parole sentences. The chapter focuses on the adjudication phase of the juvenile justice system. It begins with the landmark case of the 20th century, In re Gault. The chapter considers death penalty cases and how they reflect the evolving standards of decency. It focuses on only one issue, the standard of evidence necessary to adjudicate a 12-year-old juvenile, Samuel Winship, delinquent in the City of New York. Under the New York Family Court Act, a finding of delinquency required only a preponderance of the evidence.