He was still on probation to that court as a result of the 1959 proceedings. Harling v. United States, 111 U.S.App.D.C. (3) It denied the motion to constitute itself a juvenile court pursuant to D.C.Code § 11-914 (1961), now § 11-1553. . Petitioner appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. It states the circumstances in which jurisdiction may be waived and the child held for trial under adult procedures, but it does not state standards to govern the Juvenile Court's decision as to waiver. The statutory scheme makes this plain. 174, 295 F.2d 161 (1961). Create an account to start this course today. KENT v. UNITED STATES, 383 U.S. 541 (1966) Argued January 19, 1966. Black, supra, we do not consider it appropriate to grant this drastic relief. At the same time, petitioner's counsel moved that the Juvenile Court should give him access to the Social Service file relating to petitioner which had been accumulated by the staff of the Juvenile Court during petitioner's probation period, and which would be available to the Juvenile Court judge in considering the question whether it should retain or waive jurisdiction. It is set forth in the 383 U.S. 541app|>Appendix. IV, 1965). The Court of Appeals permitted withdrawal. Since Kent was only 16 years of age at the time, he was brought before a juvenile court judge for a series of pretrial issues. Tex.) (1961); Juvenile Delinquency, Hearings before the Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 86th Cong., 1st Sess. The jury found as to the counts alleging rape that petitioner was "not guilty by reason of insanity." IV, 1965). Cf. He contends that the police failed to follow the procedure prescribed by the Juvenile Court Act in that they failed to notify the parents of the child and the Juvenile Court itself, note 1 supra; that petitioner was deprived of his liberty for about a week without a determination of probable cause which would have been required in the case of an adult, see note 3 supra; that he was interrogated by the police in the absence of counsel or a parent, cf. Since the statements were made while petitioner was subject to the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court, they were inadmissible in a subsequent criminal prosecution under the rule of Harling v. United States, 111 U.S.App.D.C. These rights are meaningless -- an illusion, a mockery -- unless counsel is given an opportunity to function. He did not confer with petitioner or petitioner's parents or petitioner's counsel. The statute is set out at pp. They stated, however, that petitioner was "mentally competent to understand the nature of the proceedings against him and to consult properly with counsel in his own defense.". . It did note, as another panel of the same court did a few months later in Black and Watkins, that the determination of whether to transfer a child from the statutory structure of the Juvenile Court to the criminal processes of the District Court is "critically important." Mar 21, 1966 Facts of the case Morris A. Kent Jr., a 16-year-old boy, was detained and interrogated by the police in connection with several incidents involving robbery and rape. The Contract included his salary, supplemental salary, and various incentives based on performance. IV, 1965). On the contrary, if the staff's submissions include materials which are susceptible to challenge or impeachment, it is precisely the role of counsel to "denigrate" such matter. CT. REV. Pp. [Footnote 15] The statute gives the Juvenile Court a substantial degree of discretion as to the factual considerations to be evaluated, the weight to be given them, and the conclusion to be reached. that no formal hearing is required and that the "full investigation" required of the Juvenile Court need only be such "as is needed to satisfy that court . However, the Court also noted that the memo implementing these factors in the District of Columbia had been rescinded prior to its decision in Kent. Appointment of counsel without affording an opportunity for hearing on a "critically important" decision is tantamount to denial of counsel. Pee v. United States, 107 U.S.App.D.C. There is no duty to take him before a magistrate, and no responsibility to inform him of his rights. . Extensive evidence, including expert testimony, was presented to support this defense. All States have juvenile court systems. Harling v. United States, 111 U.S.App.D.C. In the ten years since Kent, courts, as well as legislatures, have sought to avoid the holding of Kent. An offense falling within the statutory limitations (set forth above) will be waived if it has prosecutive merit and if it is heinous or of an aggravated character, or -- even though less serious -- if it represents a pattern of repeated offenses which indicate that the juvenile may be beyond rehabilitation under Juvenile Court procedures, or if the public needs the protection afforded by such action. The Government urges that any error committed by the Juvenile, Court was cured by the proceedings before the District Court. . Chief Judge Bazelon filed a dissenting opinion in which Circuit Judge Wright joined. And Kent's due process rights entitled him to a hearing before the juvenile court before it could waive its jurisdiction. Policy Memorandum No. Ohio time zone and map with current time in the largest cities. Working Scholars® Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. See Allen v. United States, 164 U. S. 492. [Footnote 21] For example, it has been held that he is not entitled to bail; to indictment by grand jury; to a speedy and public trial; to trial by jury; to immunity against self-incrimination; to confrontation of his accusers; and, in some jurisdictions (but not in the District of Columbia, see Shioutakon v. District of Columbia, 98 U.S.App.D.C. Accordingly, we hold that it is incumbent upon the Juvenile Court to accompany its waiver order with a statement of the reasons or considerations therefor. 378, 385, 343 F.2d 247, 254 (1964). Cf. He argues that petitioner's detention and interrogation, described above, were unlawful. Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. At about 3 p.m. on September 5, 1961, Kent was taken into custody by the police. "a specification by the Juvenile Court Judge of precisely why he concluded to waive jurisdiction." 21; D.C.Code § 11-1502 (Supp. Pp. CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS. [Footnote 33] Accordingly, we vacate the order of the Court of Appeals and the judgment of the District Court and remand the case to the District Court for a hearing de novo on waiver, consistent with this opinion. On appeal from these judgments, the United States Court of Appeals held on January 22, 1963, that neither appeal to the Municipal Court of Appeals nor habeas corpus was available. This case is here on certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. This Memorandum has since been rescinded. In Watkins, the Court of Appeals seems to have permitted withholding of some portions of the social record from examination by petitioner's counsel. first two years of college and save thousands off your degree. 409, 343 F.2d 278, and Black v. United States, 122 U.S.App.D.C. There was no arraignment during this, time, no determination by a judicial officer of probable cause for petitioner's apprehension. The maximum punishment for housebreaking is 15 years, D.C.Code § 22-1801 (1961); for robbery it is also 15 years, D.C.Code § 22-2901 (1961). It would be extraordinary if society's special concern for children, as reflected in the District of Columbia's Juvenile Court Act, permitted this procedure. D.C.Code § 11-912 (1961), now § 16-2306 (Supp. Petitioner filed a petition for rehearing en banc, but subsequently moved to withdraw the petition in order to prosecute his petition for certiorari to this Court. 393, 355 F.2d 104 (1965). Judge McGowan, in his earlier opinion in this very case, noted that if waived Kent "`will have in the District Court all the rights in relation to his alleged psychiatric problems that he would have in the Juvenile Court.'" 107 (1966). He was placed on probation, in the custody of his mother, who had been separated from her husband since Kent was two years old. ,". To learn more, visit our Earning Credit Page. Under District of Columbia law, this made it mandatory that petitioner be transferred to St. Elizabeth's Hospital, a mental institution, until his sanity is restored. The Juvenile Court judge did not rule on these motions. The statute expressly provides that the record shall be withheld from "indiscriminate" public inspection, "except that such records or parts thereof shall be made available by rule of court or special order of court to such persons . It appears, however, that two cases decided by the Court of Appeals subsequent to its decision in the present case may have considerably modified the court's construction of the statute. If the court determined that jurisdiction was improperly waived, then Kent's conviction should be vacated. of the child. It appears that the attack on the regularity of the waiver of jurisdiction was made 17 years after the event, and that no objection to waiver had been made in the District Court. Decided March 21, 1966. Pp. Today, the prevailing line of thinking surrounding juvenile court stems from the case of Kent v. United States, which started humbly enough in juvenile and criminal courts before being appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court. ", 122 U.S.App.D.C. March 21, 2017 marks the fifty-first anniversary of Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541 (1966). The Court of Appeals in this case relied upon Wilhite v. United States, 108 U.S.App.D.C. We cannot agree with the Court of Appeals in the present case that the statute is "ambiguous." Hearings before Subcommittee No. The objectives are to provide measures of guidance and rehabilitation for the child and protection for society, not to fix criminal responsibility, guilt and punishment. at 384, 343 F.2d at 253. The statute sets forth no specific standards for the exercise of this important discretionary act, but leaves the formulation of such criteria to the Judge. If a decision on waiver is "critically important," it is equally of "critical importance" that the material submitted to the judge -- which is protected by the statute only against "indiscriminate" inspection -- be subjected, within reasonable limits having regard to the theory of the Juvenile Court Act, to examination, criticism and refutation. Petitioner attacks the waiver of jurisdiction on a number of statutory and constitutional grounds. In the Court of Appeals' view, the exclusive method of reviewing the Juvenile Court's waiver order was a motion to dismiss the indictment in the District Court. This process was required to adhere to certain constitutional safeguards, which include the right to a waiver hearing (Ferro, 2003). IV, 1965). 7 of November 30, 1959, promulgated by the judge of the Juvenile Court to set forth the criteria to govern disposition of waiver requests. He was apprehended as a result of several ", The prosecutor opposed a finding of incompetence to stand trial, and at the prosecutor's request, the District Court referred petitioner to St. Elizabeth's Hospital for psychiatric observation. The State is parens. 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Kent was then 16, and therefore subject to the "exclusive jurisdiction" of the Juvenile Court. Kent State shooting, the shooting of unarmed college students at Kent State University, in northeastern Ohio, by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970, one of the seminal events of the anti-Vietnam War movement in the United States. The trial court excluded evidence pertaining to this issue and he was convicted. 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The Supreme Court reasoned that Kent, as a juvenile, was entitled to the same level of due process as any other criminal defendant. . That court affirmed. CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Syllabus. . 47, 50, 274 F.2d 556, 559 (1959).". It is the Juvenile Court, not the District Court, which has the facilities, personnel and expertise for a proper determination of the waiver issue. The theory of the District's Juvenile Court Act, like that of other jurisdictions, [Footnote 19] is rooted in social welfare philosophy, rather than in the corpus juris. If, however, it finds that the waiver order was proper when originally made, the District Court may proceed, after consideration of such motions as counsel may make and such further proceedings, if any, as may be warranted, to enter an appropriate judgment. See Amending the Juvenile Court Act of the District of Columbia. In reaching this conclusion, the Supreme Court determined that the juvenile court failed to properly investigate whether Kent should be tried in juvenile court or tried as an adult. This jurisdiction confers special rights and immunities. The court remanded the record to the District Court for a determination of the extent to which the records should be disclosed. The facts and the contentions of counsel raise a number. Justia makes no guarantees or warranties that the annotations are accurate or reflect the current state of law, and no annotation is intended to be, nor should it be construed as, legal advice. While it indicated that, "in some cases, at least," a useful purpose might be served "by a discussion of the reasons motivating the determination," id. Get the unbiased info you need to find the right school. Interviewed Kent from time to time during the probation period, and various incentives on! 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