Juvenile Delinquency

In most cases, but not all, children under 18 in Connecticut are tried in the Juvenile Court. Juvenile Court differs from adult criminal court, as the Juvenile Court’s goal is to rehabilitate and help children, rather than punish them.

Upon your request, we will be glad to represent your child in Juvenile Court delinquency proceedings.

We have two goals in this representation: 

1. To ensure that your child is treated fairly, receives all of his rights, and is not bullied by Juvenile Prosecutors.
2. To counsel your child, and possibly you also, in avoiding delinquent and criminal acts in the future.

Very often, delinquent children who “get away with it” turn into adult criminals.  The time to stop such behavior is now.  We will be glad to work with you on this, and to provide any assistance necessary.

I once had a case in which the mother knew her child was delinquent, but refused to admit it.  She “enabled” her child to avoid the law.  Two years later, I read that the child was arrested for aggravated rape. 

You do your child no favors by enabling delinquent behavior.  However, you want to ensure that his or her rights are protected.  We will assist you in this.

I had another case in which the child engaged in harmless play that got out of hand.  The prosecutor wanted to give him 9 months of probation.  We got it down to 4 months, and the Juvenile Probation Department actually let him go after just 2 months.

On the other hand, juvenile delinquency can result in the child’s being sent to a correctional facility.  It pays to have a lawyer representing your child in these cases.

For more information on Juvenile Delinquency, see our Frequently Asked Questions.

Years ago, when I took State-paid cases, I did delinquency as well as abuse/neglect cases.  In 2003, I was at a luncheon for a friend's 40th wedding anniversary.  The waitress recognized me and started talking.  It seems that I had represented her when she was a 13-year-old juvenile delinquent.

She said that I had given her a "lucky half-dollar", and told her that if she saved it, she would never go broke.  It was just an old gimmick that my step-father had given to me when I was a kid.  She said that it helped her turn her life around.  She now had a kid, was in school, and was making an honest living for herself.

I was embarrassed to take the credit.  I had no memory of the incident.  But still, things like this make one glad to have chosen the legal profession.