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THE QUESTIONABLE ADVANTAGE OF DEFENSE COUNSEL IN JUVENILE COURT*
This article examines the issue of legal representation in serious juvenile delinquency matters in three diverse juvenile courts. The prevalence of legal counsel varied among felony referrals. Out-of-home placement was more likely to occur if a youth had an attorney, even when other relevant legal and individual factors were the same. Within each court, the results showed more likely of placement corresponding to seriousness of the case. Although this escalation was evident among cases with attorneys and those without, placement was more apt to occur when there was legal counsel. Given these findings, we offer recommendations for issues that should be considered and possible policy actions.
A gravesite near Hannibal of a famous Missourian named Clarence Gideon1 serves as a reminder of the important legal role of attorneys, and there are now over 25,000 practicing attorneys in Missouri to assure that justice is served. Whether justice extends to children, however, remains an issue of contention. In a recent survey, Missouri lawyers reported that they least like to work in the area of juvenile law, a fraction of them had any such experience, and those who did had experience primarily in adoption or dependency cases. Furthermore, judges preferred not to preside in cases
of juveniles and agreed that juvenile law experience would be of the least benefit for those who aspired to become judges (Kempf-Leonard, 1993). Disdain for juvenile law and the less prestigious "kiddie courts" is not unique to Missouri but is common throughout the United States.
Among many explanations for the lack of interest in juvenile matters by those in the legal profession, the chief reasons have to do with the underlying philosophy of juvenile courts. Since their inception in the United States more than 100 years ago, juvenile courts have processed children quickly, informally, and with emphasis on the "best interests of the child," rather than on the child's behavior. Given the presumed child welfare advocacy by everyone involved, juvenile court hearings have lacked the adversarial setting of criminal trials and the youths' due process rights have traditionally not been considered an issue. According to Feld (1999, p. 124), "Historically, juvenile court judges declined to appoint lawyers for indigent juveniles, often attempted...