Last Updated: June 17, 2008

In late April, JLC filed an application for extraordinary relief in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on behalf of all Luzerne County youth adjudicated delinquent and sanctioned without lawyers. Briefing was completed in early June and we're awaiting a decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court held over 40 years ago that the Constitution guarantees youth charged with delinquency a right to counsel. Lawyers help make sure that juvenile courts hold the right youth accountable, that any sentence meets their needs, and that sanctions are proportionate to what they have done. Yet hundreds of youth in Luzerne County have had summary hearings, for minor offenses, without counsel—many were taken from the bar of the court in handcuffs and immediately sent to residential treatment facilities.

Pennsylvania records show that since 2005, more than 50% of juveniles appeared in Luzerne County Juvenile Court without benefit of counsel—nearly ten times the state average. A significant percentage of these unrepresented juveniles were ultimately adjudicated delinquent and sanctioned; nearly 60% of delinquency dispositions for youth without counsel resulted in out-of-home placements. The state data show that from 2005–2006, more than 500 youth in the county were unrepresented at hearings and approximately 250 youth were removed from their homes.

In many of these cases, parents signed a paper that purported to “waive” counsel; their children then entered the equivalent of guilty pleas. JLC argues in its application to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that all of these waivers and pleas were invalid, because they were made without the constitutionally required colloquies that show the waivers were voluntarily and knowingly given. JLC is asking the Supreme Court to order that all youth adjudicated delinquent since October 1, 2005 without counsel be identified to JLC, that all such adjudications be vacated, and for other appropriate relief.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court does not accept all cases that are brought before it. However, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) and Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett each filed briefs to convince the Court to take jurisdiction. DPW’s brief says the high number of youths appearing in Luzerne County juvenile court without attorneys indicates there has been a “systematic deprivation of constitutional rights” of juveniles accused of committing crimes. That deprivation has likely contributed to the county’s high rate for out-of-home placement of delinquent youths. “The dramatic differential suggests many of the Luzerne County out-of-home placements were inappropriate and therefore harmful,” wrote DPW. “There can be no serious question that the rate of such placements would have been significantly lower if more juveniles had been represented by counsel.” The Attorney General’s brief says the statistics raise serious questions regarding whether juvenile proceedings “are fair and result in trustworthy determination of guilt and innocence. … The interests of justice are not served by punishing the wrong person – adult or juvenile – and shortcuts in procedures that increase this possibility can only erode public confidence in law enforcement and the juvenile justice system.”

The Luzerne County District Attorney and the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) filed briefs on behalf of the Juvenile Court urging the Supreme Court not to take jurisdiction. JLC filed a response.

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