Access to juvenile justice

Access to juvenile delinquency proceedings varies by jurisdiction.  But as a general matter, the public typically has less access to juvenile court proceedings than to other court cases, particularly criminal proceedings.

One reason for the more limited access to juvenile proceedings is that courts across the country have repeatedly declined to find a First Amendment-based right of public access to the juvenile system. Broadly put, courts do not consider delinquency proceedings to be criminal prosecutions, but rather a hybrid between both the civil and criminal systems. So judges have felt free to reject the body of law that generally holds open courtroom doors in criminal trials.  The U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on the issue. 

Many policymakers have embraced the view that limiting public access to juvenile proceedings protects the privacy interests of the juveniles.  Although juvenile courts were created in the late 19th century as part of a reform movement that encouraged public openness, juvenile courts were closed to the public for much of the 20th century. As a policy matter, it was believed that youthful offenders should not be stigmatized forever because of one mistake.

But high-profile crimes involving minors, such as the March 1998 school shooting in Jonesboro, Ark., have contributed to a reversion in public attitudes about the openness of the juvenile justice system and a youthful offender’s right to privacy. Some courts have in more recent years began to question the limits on secrecy in the juvenile proceedings.  One federal court, for example, suggested that under some circumstances “an across-the-board ban on access to juvenile proceedings … would pose a substantial constitutional issue.”

The rules under which access is allowed vary by jurisdiction, and usually can be found in state statutes governing juveniles or family courts.