Category Archives: Juveniles

When Reform Fails on the State Level, Turn to Local Advocates

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Tamar Birckhead

North Carolina is the only state in the U.S. that treats all 16 and 17-year-olds as adults when they are charged with criminal offenses and then denies them the ability to appeal for return to the juvenile system. Although New … Continue reading →

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Posted in Juvenile Court, Juveniles, North Carolina, Rehabilitation | Leave a comment

If a society values its children, it must cherish their parents.*

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Tamar Birckhead

In one of the North Carolina counties in which I practice law, juvenile delinquency court is held every other week. During these sessions, children who have been charged with criminal offenses come before the court to have their matters heard. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Child Welfare, Clinical Legal Education, Delinquency, Juveniles, Media, Poverty, Race, Class, Ethnicity, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Let’s Change How Police Question Young Suspects

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Tamar Birckhead

When I had been practicing in North Carolina’s juvenile courts for about a year, I represented a client charged in the same case as a 13-year-old special-education student named J.D.B. I remember sitting in a large courtroom and watching J.D.B.’s public … Continue reading →

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Posted in Interrogation, Juveniles, State Laws, U.S. Supreme Court | 1 Comment

Join Me at PrawfsBlawg This Month!

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Tamar Birckhead

Dan Markel (Florida State University Law School) has been asking me for years to guest blog on the always-interesting law professor blog, PrawfsBlawg.  Knowing that I’ll never have the time until I make the time, I finally agreed to join in … Continue reading →

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Posted in Blogosphere, Delinquency, Juveniles, Legal Scholarship, Poverty, Race, Class, Ethnicity | 1 Comment

Indiana Juvenile Justice Blog

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Tamar Birckhead

Earlier this week I received an email from Kaarin Lueck, public defender in Richmond, Indiana, and nationally-known expert in juvenile delinquency and criminal defense.  She very kindly shared the following: Prof. Birckhead: I felt compelled to reach out to thank … Continue reading →

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Posted in Blogosphere, Criminal /Juvenile Defense, Delinquency, Juvenile Court, Juveniles | Leave a comment

Closing the Widening Net: The Rights of Juveniles at Intake

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Tamar Birckhead

Should juveniles have more, fewer, the same or different procedural rights than are accorded to adults?  This question, posed by Professor Arnold Loewy for a panel at the 2013 Texas Tech Law Review Symposium on Juveniles and Criminal Law, requires … Continue reading →

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Posted in Criminal /Juvenile Defense, Delinquency, Juvenile Court, Juveniles, Poverty, Race, Class, Ethnicity, Right to Counsel, School to Prison Pipeline, U.S. Supreme Court | Leave a comment

When Kids Behave Like Kids, Don’t Punish Them Like They are Adults

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Tamar Birckhead

As a criminal defense lawyer and the mother of two girls, I have a very effective disciplinary tool at my disposal: I can take just about any undesirable interaction between my daughters and frame it as a crime.  If the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Juvenile Court, Juveniles, Race, Class, Ethnicity, School to Prison Pipeline | 2 Comments

Telling the Whole Truth about Juvenile Incarceration Rates

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Tamar Birckhead

While a new report finds that juvenile incarceration rates are declining in the United States, there is more to the story than just the numbers.  In this guest post, Jason Langberg, staff attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina, examines … Continue reading →

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Posted in Conditions of Confinement, Delinquency, Guest Blogger, Juveniles, North Carolina, Race, Class, Ethnicity, Reports, School to Prison Pipeline, State Laws | 2 Comments

Steubenville: The Names Change, but the Story Stays the Same

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Tamar Birckhead

“My life is over. No one is going to want me now.” These were the words of 16-year-old Ma’lik Richmond after a judge adjudicated him delinquent of rape earlier this week in juvenile court in Steubenville, Ohio. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But … Continue reading →

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Posted in Delinquency, Education, Gender, Juvenile Court, Juveniles, Media, Sentencing | 1 Comment

From Prison to Juvenile Justice Lawyer

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Tamar Birckhead

I am a sucker for a feel-good story, and this is the best one I’ve come across in a long time.  It’s from the San Francisco Chronicle, written by Meredith May, and here’s how it opens: A group of incarcerated teenage … Continue reading →

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Posted in Juveniles, Law Schools, Law Students, Legal Profession, Rehabilitation, Sentencing, Training | 1 Comment