Citation

McGuire MD, Vaughn MG, Shook JJ, Kinney T. J. Appl. Juv. Justice Serv. 2015; 2015: 1-30.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, National Partnership for Juvenile Services)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examines juveniles' understanding of attorney-client privilege and zealous representation using a sample of committed juveniles. Since these attributes are what make an attorney's assistance valuable, an understanding of these basic concepts should be a necessary pre-requisite for any juvenile's valid waiver of the right to counsel under Miranda. The impact of respondents' various demographic attributes, exposure to the legal system and attitudes regarding the fairness of court proceedings and the outcome of their own case on their understanding of the duty to zealously represent and attorney-client privilege are analyzed.

FINDINGS suggest that even among juveniles who have been through the system, various aspects of zealous representation and attorney-client privilege are not fully understood. Greater experience with the system and living in an urban area tend to correlate with greater understanding of attorney-client privilege. Urban dwellers are, however, less likely to think that it is wise for defendants to tell their attorneys the whole story. The policy implications of these results are evaluated.

Available:
http://npjs.org/jajjs/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/JAJJS-Article-McGuire.pdf

Language: en