Ensuring fairness & respect for LGBT youth in juvenile delinquency courts
How was it possible to get from a place of total invisibility and ignorance to a place of awareness and understanding? This is the story of what the New York City (NYC) Family Court was able to do. These things did not happen because it was NYC. They happened because there was strong judicial leadership from individuals on the bench who took seriously the concept of “access to justice.”
In Defense of LGBT Youth This article highlights the recommendations from Hidden Injustice for juvenile defenders and presents strategies to help defense attorneys advocate for their LGBT clients as effectively as possible.
An article that highlights the difficulties faced by the disproportionately high numbers of LGBT youth in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. The authors address the key arguments made by attorneys on behalf of LGBT youth in state custody and the many ways lawyers can use civil rights principles to stimulate policy reform and encourage systematic changes in institutional conditions. The article pairs statements made by LGBT youths in both systems with the authors’ specific recommendations as to how the rights of LGBT youth have been violated while in state custody as a means of illustrating both legal and non-legal strategies attorneys can use to remedy injustices, combat discrimination, and promote the civil rights of LGBT youth.
An article on the need for lawyers to recognize the ways in which lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youths are uniquely vulnerable to abuse, violence, and discrimination, so that lawyers can be effective and zealous advocates for LGBTQ young people. Fedders argues that the adaptive behaviors engaged in by LGBTQ youth may often render them vulnerable to involvement and struggles in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Rather than identifying LGBTQ clients for special treatment, Fedders encourages lawyers for juveniles to adopt practice strategies that are sensitive to and supportive of all youth regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.
