ABSTRACT

In most juvenile courtrooms before Gault, no lawyers appeared; neither prosecutors nor defense counsel. Probation officers or other court personnel filed the petition or other document that placed the matter on the court's docket. Focusing solely on the procedural flaws of juvenile justice was a sound strategy, deliberately employed by Norman Dorsen, the American Civil Liberties lawyer who argued Gault. Charles Schinitsky's ultimate conclusion about Children's Court was straightforward: it was built on the premise that a kid is not a full individual with constitutional rights. In New York City, an office was established to represent children in the newly created Family Court. It would have the responsibility of being the attorney of record on behalf of all indigent accused juvenile delinquents. Thus, by 1976, some of the bloom of Gaultwas beginning to fade in New York. The retrenchment in the Supreme Court in Schall was hardly the first blow to juvenile justice advancement in the post-Gault era.