Hugo Black

“ Freedom in this Nation will be far less secure the very moment that it is decided that judges can determine which of these safeguards 'should' or 'should not be imposed' according to their notions of what constitutional provisions are consistent with the 'traditions and conscience of our people.' Judges with such power, even though they profess to 'proceed with restraint,' will be above the Constitution, with power to write it, not merely to interpret it, which I believe to be the only power constitutionally committed to judges. ”

“ Young Gault was arrested and detained on a charge of violating an Arizona penal law by using vile and offensive language to a lady on the telephone. If an adult, he could only have been fined or imprisoned for two months for his conduct. As a juvenile, however, he was put through a more or less secret, informal hearing by the court, after which he was ordered, or more realistically, 'sentenced,' to confinement in Arizona's Industrial School until he reaches 21 years of age. ”

“ The phrase 'due process of law' has through the years evolved as the successor in purpose and meaning to the words 'law of the land' in Magna Charta which more plainly intended to call for a trial according to the existing law of the land in effect at the time an alleged offense had been committed. That provision in Magna Charta was designed to prevent defendants from being tried according to criminal laws or proclamations specifically promulgated to fit particular cases or to attach new consequences to old conduct. ”

“ For this reason such state laws generally provide less formal and less public methods for the trial of children. In line with this policy, both courts and legislators have shrunk back from labeling these laws as 'criminal' and have preferred to call them 'civil.' This, in part, was to prevent the full application to juvenile court cases of the Bill of Rights safeguards, including notice as provided in the Sixth Amendment, [1] the right to counsel guaranteed by the Sixth, [2] the right against selfincrimination guaranteed by the Fifth, [3] and the right to confrontation guarantee b y the Sixth. ”