M. Chen reports that “young people are too often viewed as social liabilities rather than individuals with a future.  She reports that social barriers are a major reason troubled kids end up in court. Their involvement with the criminal-justice system therefore attests to institutionalized racial and social exclusion. To really protect children, she adds, “We have to recognize that all young people should have access to the same services…. People in the system, and society in general, [don’t] often see young people of color as young people.”

Often the presumption of guilt begins before any court date is set, the moment they’re handcuffed. The NJDC found that, nationwide, “no state guarantees lawyers for every child during interrogation,” though Illinois recently passed legislation ensuring legal counsel for children under 15 charged with serious offenses. With such weak legal protections, a middle-schooler could leave home in the morning and within a day get detained by school security officers and bullied into confessing by police, without ever consulting with a lawyer or seeing her parents.

Without a lawyer, children in many states can be manipulated into signing away Fifth Amendment rights they never knew they had. The analysis found that 43 states allow children to waive their right to counsel without consulting a lawyer first.

https://www.thenation.com/article/our-criminal-courts-are-failing-juvenile-defendants/