ABSTRACT
The inception of the modern juvenile justice system began in 1967 with the US Supreme Court's decision in In re Gault,. Fifteen-year-old Gerald Gault had been found delinquent by the Juvenile Court of Gila County, Arizona, for making lewd telephone calls to a neighbor. At the time he made the prank calls, Gault was on probation for being present when another boy stole a wallet. As punishment for making the prank calls, Gault was sentenced to the State Industrial School until the age of twenty-one, a period of six years. Gerald Gault had been denied adequate written notice of charges, the right to counsel, the privilege against selfincrimination, and the right to confront and to crossexamine witnesses. Abe Fortas noted that the juvenile justice system was created in order to protect children from the harsh realities of the adult criminal justice system.
