THE JUVENILE JUSTICE LEGACY OF CHIEF JUSTICE RALPH GANTS

The late Chief Justice Ralph Gants was a catalyst for criminal justice reform and a champion for young people within the justice system. In his work on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Chief Justice Gants committed himself to ensuring that children in juvenile court be treated as youths in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBoston College law review Vol. 62; no. 8; pp. 2709 - 2724
Main Authors Lenk, Justice Barbara, Rangaviz, David Rassoul
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Newton Centre Boston College School of Law 01.01.2021
Subjects
Children & youth
Criminal procedure
Gants, Ralph D
Judges & magistrates
Juvenile justice
Minors
State court decisions
United States > US
Massachusetts
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Summary:The late Chief Justice Ralph Gants was a catalyst for criminal justice reform and a champion for young people within the justice system. In his work on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Chief Justice Gants committed himself to ensuring that children in juvenile court be treated as youths in need of help and never as criminals in need of punishment. While always respecting proper institutional boundaries, Chief Justice Gants worked to reduce the scope of juveniles' involvement in the justice system where possible, limit the harmful effects of such involvement on young people, their families, and their communities, and provide youths with an expanded opportunity for release upon proven rehabilitation. This Article explores Chief Justice Gants's influential legacy in the area of juvenile jus-tice-a legacy left through both his opinions and advocacy-and what efforts he might have made on these issues in the future.
ISSN:0161-6587
1930-661X