In Re Gault
Encyclopedia
In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1
(1967), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court
decision that held that juveniles accused of crimes in a delinquency proceeding must be afforded many of the same due process
rights as adults, such as the right to timely notification of the charges, the right to confront witnesses, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to counsel. The court's opinion was written by Justice Abe Fortas
, a noted proponent of children's rights
.
, took fifteen-year-old Gerald Gault into custody — without notifying Gault's parents — after a neighbor, Ora Cook, complained of receiving an inappropriate and offensive telephone call. After returning home from work that evening to find her son missing, Gault's mother eventually located him at the county Children's Detention Home but was not permitted to take him home.
According to Gault, his friend Ronald Lewis made the call from the Gault family's trailer. Gault claims that Lewis had asked to use the telephone while Gault was getting ready for work. Then — not yet knowing to whom Lewis was speaking — Gault said, “I heard him, ahem, using some pretty vulgar language … so I — all I did was walk out, took the phone off him, hung it up, and told him — I says, ‘Hey, there's the door. Get out.’”
Judge McGhee of the Gila County Superior Court
, acting as a juvenile court
judge, presided over Gault's preliminary hearing the next morning — which he ended by saying he would "think about it" — and Gault remained in custody for several more days until being released without explanation. On Gault's release, his mother received a note from the superintendent of the detention home informing her that "Judge McGhee has set Monday June 15, 1964 at 11:00 A. M. as the date and time for further Hearings on Gerald's delinquency"; this was the family's only notification of the hearing.
At the hearing, McGhee found "that said minor is a delinquent child, and that said minor is of the age of 15 years", ordering him confined at the State Industrial School "for the period of his minority [that is, until 21], unless sooner discharged by due process of law." The charge listed in the report prepared by the county probation officers was "Lewd Phone Calls". Had Gault been convicted as an adult for a violation of ARS § 13-377, the punishment was a maximum prison sentence of two months and a fine of $5 to $50..
Gault's accuser, Cook, was not present at either hearing; McGhee said "she didn't have to be present". More than forty years later, Gault said, “I still don’t know what that lady looks like”.
With no witnesses having been sworn and the court making no transcript of either hearing, those present later disagreed about what had gone on during the June 1967 hearings; in particular, Gault's parents contested McGhee's claim that the teenager had admitted in court to making any of the alleged lewd statements.
Arizona law at the time permitted no appeal in juvenile cases, so Gault's parents petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court
for a writ of habeas corpus
to obtain their son's release; the Supreme Court referred the case back to McGhee for hearing. On August 17, "McGhee was vigorously cross-examined as to the basis for his actions." He testified:
The first law McGhee mentioned was Arizona Revised Statutes
(ARS) § 13-377, which made a misdemeanor
of using "vulgar, abusive or obscene language" while "in the presence or hearing of any woman or child". Violating this law, then, would meet the ARS § 8-201(6)(a) criterion for classification as a "delinquent child", i.e., "A child who has violated a law of the state or an ordinance or regulation of a political subdivision thereof". The alternate criterion McGhee cited was that of ARS § 8-201(6)(d): "A child who habitually so deports himself as to injure or endanger the morals or health of himself or others." McGhee found Gault delinquent for (1) on one occasion using obscene language on the telephone with a woman and (2) being "habitually" dangerous. The evidence for the latter, according to McGhee's testimony, was that (a) two years earlier there had been a vague report, which the court had not acted upon due to (in McGhee's words) a "lack of material foundation", concerning the theft of a baseball glove; and (b) Gault's admission that in the past he had made telephone calls the judge described as "silly calls, or funny calls, or something like that". On this basis, Judge McGhee ordered the teenager to serve six years in juvenile detention.
After McGhee dismissed the habeas petition, the Gaults appealed to the state Supreme Court (99 Ariz. 181
(1965)). The bases of the appeal were:
The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of the petition. The court acknowledged that the constitutionality of the Juvenile Court proceedings required adherence to due process, but found that the Arizona Juvenile Code in general and the Gault proceedings in specific did not violate due process. The case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
was the sole dissenter. He argued that the purpose of juvenile court was correction, not punishment, and the constitutional procedural safeguards for criminal trials should not apply to juvenile trials.
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1967), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
decision that held that juveniles accused of crimes in a delinquency proceeding must be afforded many of the same due process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
rights as adults, such as the right to timely notification of the charges, the right to confront witnesses, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to counsel. The court's opinion was written by Justice Abe Fortas
Abe Fortas
Abraham Fortas was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice from 1965 to 1969. Originally from Tennessee, Fortas became a law professor at Yale, and subsequently advised the Securities and Exchange Commission. He then worked at the Interior Department under Franklin D...
, a noted proponent of children's rights
Children's rights
Children's rights are the human rights of children with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to the young, including their right to association with both biological parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for food, universal state-paid education,...
.
Case background
On the morning of June 8, 1964, the sheriff of Gila County, ArizonaGila County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*76.8% White*0.4% Black*14.8% Native American*0.5% Asian*0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*2.0% Two or more races*5.4% Other races*17.9% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
, took fifteen-year-old Gerald Gault into custody — without notifying Gault's parents — after a neighbor, Ora Cook, complained of receiving an inappropriate and offensive telephone call. After returning home from work that evening to find her son missing, Gault's mother eventually located him at the county Children's Detention Home but was not permitted to take him home.
According to Gault, his friend Ronald Lewis made the call from the Gault family's trailer. Gault claims that Lewis had asked to use the telephone while Gault was getting ready for work. Then — not yet knowing to whom Lewis was speaking — Gault said, “I heard him, ahem, using some pretty vulgar language … so I — all I did was walk out, took the phone off him, hung it up, and told him — I says, ‘Hey, there's the door. Get out.’”
Judge McGhee of the Gila County Superior Court
Superior court
In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases...
, acting as a juvenile court
Juvenile court
A juvenile court is a tribunal having special authority to try and pass judgments for crimes committed by children or adolescents who have not attained the age of majority...
judge, presided over Gault's preliminary hearing the next morning — which he ended by saying he would "think about it" — and Gault remained in custody for several more days until being released without explanation. On Gault's release, his mother received a note from the superintendent of the detention home informing her that "Judge McGhee has set Monday June 15, 1964 at 11:00 A. M. as the date and time for further Hearings on Gerald's delinquency"; this was the family's only notification of the hearing.
At the hearing, McGhee found "that said minor is a delinquent child, and that said minor is of the age of 15 years", ordering him confined at the State Industrial School "for the period of his minority [that is, until 21], unless sooner discharged by due process of law." The charge listed in the report prepared by the county probation officers was "Lewd Phone Calls". Had Gault been convicted as an adult for a violation of ARS § 13-377, the punishment was a maximum prison sentence of two months and a fine of $5 to $50..
Gault's accuser, Cook, was not present at either hearing; McGhee said "she didn't have to be present". More than forty years later, Gault said, “I still don’t know what that lady looks like”.
With no witnesses having been sworn and the court making no transcript of either hearing, those present later disagreed about what had gone on during the June 1967 hearings; in particular, Gault's parents contested McGhee's claim that the teenager had admitted in court to making any of the alleged lewd statements.
Arizona law at the time permitted no appeal in juvenile cases, so Gault's parents petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court
Arizona Supreme Court
The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. It consists of a Chief Justice, a Vice Chief Justice, and three associate justices. Each justice is appointed by the governor of Arizona from a list recommended by a bipartisan commission. Justices stand for...
for a writ of habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
to obtain their son's release; the Supreme Court referred the case back to McGhee for hearing. On August 17, "McGhee was vigorously cross-examined as to the basis for his actions." He testified:
Well, there is a — I think it amounts to disturbing the peace. I can't give you the section, but I can tell you the law, that when one person uses lewd language in the presence of another person, that it can amount to — and I consider that when a person makes it over the phone, that it is considered in the presence, I might be wrong, that is one section. The other section upon which I consider the boy delinquent is Section 8-201, Subsection (d), habitually involved in immoral matters.
The first law McGhee mentioned was Arizona Revised Statutes
Arizona Revised Statutes
The Arizona Revised Statutes is the name given to the statutory laws in the state of Arizona. The ARS went into effect on January 9, 1956. It was most recently updated in second regular session of the 49th legislature. There are currently 49 titles, although three have been repealed.-External...
(ARS) § 13-377, which made a misdemeanor
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
of using "vulgar, abusive or obscene language" while "in the presence or hearing of any woman or child". Violating this law, then, would meet the ARS § 8-201(6)(a) criterion for classification as a "delinquent child", i.e., "A child who has violated a law of the state or an ordinance or regulation of a political subdivision thereof". The alternate criterion McGhee cited was that of ARS § 8-201(6)(d): "A child who habitually so deports himself as to injure or endanger the morals or health of himself or others." McGhee found Gault delinquent for (1) on one occasion using obscene language on the telephone with a woman and (2) being "habitually" dangerous. The evidence for the latter, according to McGhee's testimony, was that (a) two years earlier there had been a vague report, which the court had not acted upon due to (in McGhee's words) a "lack of material foundation", concerning the theft of a baseball glove; and (b) Gault's admission that in the past he had made telephone calls the judge described as "silly calls, or funny calls, or something like that". On this basis, Judge McGhee ordered the teenager to serve six years in juvenile detention.
After McGhee dismissed the habeas petition, the Gaults appealed to the state Supreme Court (99 Ariz. 181
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1965)). The bases of the appeal were:
- the Arizona Juvenile Code was unconstitutional because it (a) did not require that either the accused or his parents be notified of the specific charges against him; (b) did not require that the parents be given notice of hearings; and (c) allowed no appeal; and
- the Juvenile Court's actions constituted a denial of due process because of (a) the lack of notification of the charges against Gault or of the hearings; (b) the court's failure to inform the Gaults of their right to counsel, right to confront the accused, and right to remain silent; (c) the admission of "unsworn hearsayHearsay in United States lawHearsay is the legal term for testimony in a court proceeding where the witness does not have direct knowledge of the fact asserted, but knows it only from being told by someone. In general the witness will make a statement such as, "Sally told me Tom was in town," as opposed to "I saw Tom in...
testimony"; and (d) the lack of any records of the proceedings.
The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of the petition. The court acknowledged that the constitutionality of the Juvenile Court proceedings required adherence to due process, but found that the Arizona Juvenile Code in general and the Gault proceedings in specific did not violate due process. The case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
Decision
In an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Gault’s commitment to the State Industrial School was a violation of the 14th Amendment since he had been denied the right to an attorney, had not been formally notified of the charges against him, had not been informed of his right against self-incrimination, and had no opportunity to confront his accusers. Justice Potter StewartPotter Stewart
Potter Stewart was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During his tenure, he made, among other areas, major contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.-Education:Stewart was born in Jackson, Michigan,...
was the sole dissenter. He argued that the purpose of juvenile court was correction, not punishment, and the constitutional procedural safeguards for criminal trials should not apply to juvenile trials.
External links
- Oral arguments on Oyez.orgOyez.orgThe Oyez Project at the Chicago-Kent College of Law is an unofficial online multimedia archive of the Supreme Court of the United States, especially audio of oral arguments...
- National Constitution CenterNational Constitution CenterThe National Constitution Center is an organization that seeks to expand awareness and understanding of the United States Constitution and operates a museum to advance those purposes....
, "Children under the Constitution" panel discussion, 7 November 2007.