Juvenile crimes are relatively common. Teenagers lack the ability to thoroughly assess the implications of their choices. Even relatively mature and responsible young adults can make impulsive choices that lead to criminal charges.
Common juvenile offenses include allegations of alcohol possession, drug offenses, drunk driving, shoplifting and assault. Parents worried about how a criminal charge might affect their child may want to offer practical and legal support to a teen accused of breaking the law.
Parents can help young adults understand and make use of their rights. What legal rights do juvenile defendants generally have?
Certain rights are universal
As a general rule, juvenile defendants have all of the same basic civil and constitutional rights as adult defendants. They have the right to remain silent when facing questioning and police custody. They have the right to legal representation.
They also have the right to understand the charges brought against them and to review the state’s evidence, as well as the right to request a trial by jury and qualifying circumstances. Federal courts have affirmed that the same basic civil protections extended to adult defendants are also available to juvenile defendants.
Juveniles have additional legal protections
Youthful defendants may actually have enhanced protections when compared to adult defendants accused of similar crimes. For example, once police officers take a juvenile into state custody, they typically cannot question the young adult without first making a reasonable attempt to contact their parents and have them present during the questioning.
There are rules limiting how long police officers can hold young adults. Typically, those windows of time are much shorter than the holding times allowed for adult defendants. While juveniles are in state custody, they generally have a right to protection from adult detainees.
They also have the right to access educational programming while they are in detention facilities. Additionally, the state should prioritize their rehabilitation. There are also expanded expungement rights for certain juvenile offenders.
Parents hoping to support a young adult accused of a crime may need to review the situation closely with a skilled legal team to determine if any rights violations have occurred and to advocate for the juvenile defendant. Retaining legal support as soon as possible after an arrest can help parents to uphold the rights of a minor child.
