In Re Gault

590 Words3 Pages
Unaware, Uninformed and Unbelievable: In Re Gault In 1967, there was a serious case brought up to the Supreme Court called In Re Gault, which is Latin for in regards to. The case had dealt with a 15 year old boy named Gerald Gault being accused of making a vulgar phone call to his neighbor, Mrs. Cook. He was at home with his friend, Ronald Lewis, when this action took place and Police were quickly notified by the highly upset woman. Gault was already on probation after being in the company of a young man who had stolen the wallet of a by passing woman, and the threatening phone call was just making things worse for him. He was then arrested and taken to the Juvenile Delinquent Center for his outrageous behavior. The part that is even more unbelievable is that the parents were never notified. The whole time the arrest took place, Gault’s parents were at work. The police officer who arrested Gault made no effort whatsoever to inform the worried parents. Gault’s mom came home that day from work and could not find her son anywhere. She then sent Gault’s oldest brother out to look for him. With no luck, they went to Gault’s friend Lewis’ house where they found out the dreadful news. The Lewis family also told them that they had a hearing in the Juvenile Court the following day. (Gerald punishment) The Supreme Court made their decision. There were a total of 8 votes for Gault and only 1 against him.The U.S Supreme Courts vote in the majority was for Gault. They stated that “just because he was a minor, he could not be denied due process and his 5th and 6th Amendment.” They ruled that Gault’s commitment to the State Industrial School was a violation of the 14th Amendment. The indicated meant that he had been denied the right to an attorney so he had not been formally notified the charges against him. Justice Abe Fortas was the person in charge of writing the majority
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