By: Wallin & Klarich
Both the juvenile and adult justice system in California have the shared goal of public safety. However, this is one of the few goals both systems have in common. The adult justice system has the goal of punishment of offenders, where as the juvenile justice system has the goal of treatment and rehabilitation of juvenile …
By: Wallin & Klarich
A police officer stopped a juvenile, M, for riding a bicycle without proper lighting. The officer asked M to step away form the bike and take off his backpack. M said he would not consent to a search of the backpack. The officer believe this was a “red flag” and, concerned that M might be …
By: Wallin & Klarich
On June 29, 2010, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, decided People v. Honan, which ruled that mandatory sex offender registration for those convicted of indecent exposure but discretionary registration for those convicted of lewd conduct did not violate equal protection. On February 17, 2008, defendant Donald Honan and Jose Martinez-Gutierrez were at a …
By: Wallin & Klarich
In Graham v. Florida, No. 08-7412, the United States Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment bars sentences of life without parole for juveniles not convicted of a homicide offense. The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. In Graham, Graham was 17 years old when he participated with two 20 year olds in an …
By: Wallin & Klarich
It was recently reported that nine youths have been charged in relation to the suicide of a 15-year-old girl in Massachusetts. Phoebe Prince, who had recently moved to South Hadley, Massachusetts from Ireland, hung herself after being raped and bullied by classmates since the start of the school year in September 2009. Prince committed suicide …
Continue reading “Nine Charged after Bullying of Teenage Student Phoebe Prince Ends in Suicide”
By: Wallin & Klarich
It was recently reported that a minor was taken into custody and charged with 232 counts of vandalism in Vista, California. The police also suspect him in 85 additional vandalism incidences. His alleged graffiti tags have caused over $101,000 in damage according to police. His name has not been released because he is a minor. …
By: Wallin & Klarich
Recently, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases involving life sentences without the option for parole for minors. The two cases, Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida both involved two minors who were convicted of serious felonies when they were 16 and 13 years old, respectively. The boys were subsequently …
Continue reading “U.S. Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments for Life without Parole for Minors”
By: Wallin & Klarich
The United States Supreme Court is set to hear a wide variety of cases as it begins its new term. Among these cases, the Supreme Court will decide whether a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole imposed on juvenile offenders constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The Eighth Amendment of the United States …
By: Wallin & Klarich
It has been well established that minors will consume alcohol before they are legally permitted to at 21. Lawmakers in California hope a new law will help deter minors from not only drinking, but from being drunk in public. As of 2009, the California Courts will impose a suspension or delay of driving privileges on …
Continue reading “California Law Seeks to Prevent Minors Drunk in Public”
By: Wallin & Klarich
On appeal, a Defendant in California sought to overturn his conviction for gross negligence in discharging a firearm, possession of a firearm by a juvenile. The defendant in this case was previously made a ward of the juvenile court. As such, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm until the age of 30. The United …
Wallin & Klarich was established in 1981. Over the past 32 years, our law firm has helped tens of thousands of families in their time of legal need. Regardless of whether our clients faced criminal or DUI charges, the loss of their driving privilege, or wanted to clean up their criminal record, we have been there to help them.
