Published Law Review Note Argues for Juvenile Jury Trial Right

Riley Parr, a law student at the IU McKinney School of Law and law clerk for Randall Parr, wrote in a Note published by the Indiana Law Review that juveniles should have the right to jury trials when they face juvenile adjudications–that is, when they face the equivalent of criminal charges in juvenile court.

Juveniles do not currently have the right to a jury trial, though they do have nearly all of the other constitutional rights of adults accused of crimes: Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures; Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination; Sixth Amendment rights to counsel, confrontation, and cross-examination. The State must also prove the juvenile committed the act beyond a reasonable doubt.

But, according to the Indiana Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, juveniles do not have the right to a jury trial.

Arguing that the juvenile justice system is now essentially equivalent to the adult criminal justice system, Parr reasons that under the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment Due Process Clause and the Sixth Amendment, juveniles should have the right to a jury trial. He also opines that juveniles are entitled to this right under the civil jury trial trial provided by Article 1, Section 20 of the Indiana Constitution .

You can read his entire Note here: https://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/ilr/pdf/vol52p105.pdf