"… Give Me a Lawyer, Dawg": Recognizing for Advice and Support

Overview

Journal Front Psychol

Date 2024 Oct 24

PMID 39444827

Authors

Miko M Wilford

Annabelle Frazier

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

(1) Youth are particularly vulnerable to making suboptimal legal decisions due to added challenges in comprehension, as well as their ongoing neurological development. (2) This fact is especially problematic in our which frequently expects defendants to determine the outcome of their own cases (by accepting or rejecting plea offers). (3) To better ensure that guilty pleas entered by youthful defendants are indeed knowing, intelligent, and voluntary, legal counsel should be mandatory during any and all juvenile criminal proceedings. (4) Further, an additional "translator" (similar to a ), who has specialized training in developmental psychology, should be present to effectively counsel and support youth defendants who might otherwise fail to comprehend the advice of their attorneys (and other court actors).

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