# Appendix — Schall v. Martin

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## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Appendix
- **Published:** January 1, 1984
- **Citation:** 467 U.S. 253

## Text

82-1248

- o Supreme Court, U.S,
cae amtanees abe)

ahs JAN 24 1983

Supreme Court of the uted tan cu

October Term, 1982

ELLEN SCHALL, as Commissioner of the New York City
Department of Juvenile Justice,
Appellant,
and

ROBERT ABRAMS, as Attorney General of the State of New York,
Intervenor-A ppellant,
against
GREGORY MARTIN, LUIS ROSARIO, KENNETH
MORGAN, and all others similarly situated,
Appellees.

On Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals
for the Second Circuit

APPENDICES TO JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENTS
FOR APPELLANT AND INTERVENOR-APPELLANT

Freperick A. O. ScHWARzZ, JR. Rosert ABRAMS
Corporation Counsel of the Attorney General of the
City of New Yor! State of New York
Attorney for a * hema Intervenor-Appeilant, Pro Se
100 Church Street Two World Trade Center
New York, New York 10007 New York, New York 10047
(212) 566-7296, 4338 (212) 488-2462, 3385
LEONARD KOERNER Peter H. ScuiFF
Chief, Appeals Division Acting Attorney-in-Chief
Sossre ® Seenweens Appeals and Opinions Division
Of Counsel naneers A. Gorpon
d; ScHACK
Of Counsel

U

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

Appendix A—Opinions and Judgment of the Court of
Appeals la

Appendix B—June 1, 1981 District Court Judgment 30a
Appendix C—April 17, 1981 District Court Opinion 32a
Appendix D—April 3, 1978 District Court Opinion 89a

Appendix E—Notice of Appeal for Intervenor-Ap-
pellant 102a

Appendix F—Notice of Appeal for Appellant 104a

APPENDIX A

Opinions and Judgment of the Court of Appeals
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

For THE Seconp Ciecvit

Nos. 526, 706—Angust Term, 1981
(Argued January 12,1982 Decided September 20, 1982)
Docket Nos. 81-2175, 81-2193
——— ———
Grecory Martin, Luis Rosario, KennetH Morcan,
and all others similarly situated,
Petitioners-A ppellees,
—V,—
Pav. Srrassurc, as Commissioner of the New York City
Department of Juvenile Justice,

Respondent-Appellant,

Rosert Aprams, as Attorney General of the
State of New York,

Intervenor-A ppellant.[+]

ne a i

Before:
Oakes, NewMan and WInTER,

Circuit Judges.

{t] Text of opinion includes corrections made by the Court of
Appeals as of January 1, 1983.—Ed.

2a
Appendix A

Appeal from a judgment of the United States District
Court for the Southern District of New York (Carter,
Judge), declaring New York Family Court Act 4 739(a) (ii)
unconstitutional.

Affirmed.

Jupitn A. Gornox, Assistant Attorney General (Rob-
ert Abrams, Attorney General of the State of New
York, George D. Zucker :an, Assistant Solicitor
General, Florence E. Abrams, Assistant Attorney
General, New York, New York), for Intervenor-
Appellant.

Martix Guocexnem, New York, New York (Bruce J.
Ennis, American Civil Liberties Union, New York,
New York), for Petitioners-Appellees.

Lenore Gittis, New York, New York (Janet R. Fink,
Charles A. Hollander, The Legal Aid Society, New
York, New York), for Petitioners-Appellees.

Wrnster, Circuit Judge:

This appeal involves a constitutional challenge to a pro-
vision of the New York Family Court Act’ authorizing pre-

1. The New York Family Court Act has been codified at Book
29A, Part I, Judiciary—Court Acts (McKinney 1975 Supp. 1981).
References to the Family Court Act will be cited as “FCA § ——.”
The preventive detention statute challenged in this action is FCA
§ 739(a), which provides:

(footnote continued on next page)

3a
Appendia A

ventive detention of accused juvenile delinquents. It was
brought in the District Court as a habeas corpus class
action against the defendant Paul Strasburg, Commissioner
of the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice,
under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, Robert Abrams, Attorney General
of the State of New York, intervening as a defendant. Judge
Carter certified the class as ‘‘all juveniles who are now
being held or will be held before these proceedings are con-
cluded, in pretrial detention .. .,’’ under the challenged
statute. A trial resulted in a record of documentary and
testimonial evidence about the actual practice of the Family
Court in utilizing preventive detention, including expert
testimony by a Family Court Judge, statistical studies and
a collection of representative case studies.

Judge Carter held the statute unconstitutional. 513 F.
Supp. 691 (S.D.N.Y. 1981). He issued a judgment grant-
ing the writ to all juveniles detained under the challenged
provisions at any time before conclusion of this action.
Defendants appealed. We affirm on the grounds that the
statutory scheme and practice under it violate the Due
Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in that the
period of pre-trial detention is utilized principally to impose
punishment before adjudication of the alleged criminal acts.

§ 739. Release or detention after filing of petition and prior to
order of disposition.

(a) After the filing of a petition under section seven hundred
thirty-one or seven hundred thirty-two, the court in its discretion
may release the respondent or direct his detention. In exercising
its discretion under this section, the court shall not direct deten-
tion unless it finds and states the facts and reasons for so finding
that unless the respondent is detained :

(i) there is a substantial probability that he will not appear in
court on the return date; or

(ii) there is a serious risk that he may before the return date do
an act which if committed by an adult would constitute a crime.

4a
Appendia A
THE STATUTORY SCHEME SUMMARIZED

Since our decision rests on a belief that the Family
Court Act does not accord procedural due process, it is im-
portant to understand the procedural structure of New
York delinquency adjudications. Although these juvenile
proceedings are somewhat different from adult criminal
proceedings in both ends and means, their major proce-
dural stages have analogues in the adult criminal justice
process. A juvenile proceeding is initiated by a petition
for delinquency,’ a step analogous to an indictment. The
case then goes to fact-finding before a Family Court Judge,
at which time the juvenile is either adjudicated a delin-
quent or the petition is dismissed.* The analogue in the
criminal law is, of course, the trial and verdict. The final
stage is a determination of the disposition by a Family
Court Judge,‘ analogous in the criminal law to adult sen-
tencing. We set out these analogues, not to argue that the
constitutional limitations on juvenile courts are identical
to those imposed on adult criminal tribunals, but solely
to facilitate an understanding of the result we reach.

2. FCA §731 prescribes the function and content of a delin-
quency petition:
1. A proceeding to adjudicate a person a juvenile delinquent is
originated by the filing of a petition, alleging:

(a) the respondent did any act which, if done by an adult, would
constitute a crime and specifying the act and the time and place of
its commission ;

(b) the respondent was a person under sixteen years of age at the
time of the alleged act; and

(c) the respondent requires supervision, treatment, or confine-
ment.

3. See FCA §§ 744, 752.
4. See FCA § 753.

5a
Appendia A

The statutory scheme can be summarized as follows. The
challenged provision is Section 739(a)(ii). It authorizes
detention of a juvenile after filing of a petition, but before
fact-finding, when a Family Court Judge determines ‘‘there
is a serious risk that [the juvenile] may before the return
date do an act which if committed by an adult would con-
stitute a crime.’? Juveniles detained under 739(a) (il)
are entitled to a probable cause hearing within three to
six days and an expedited fact-find'ng hearing.’ If delin-
quency is adjudicated at fact-finding, a probation investi-
gation and, in the case of ‘‘designated felony acts,’ a

5. FCA § 747 mandates that. if the respondent is in detention, a
fact-finding hearing shall commence. unless adjourned, not more than
three days after the filing of the petition against the respondent unless
the respondent is charged with an act which if committed by an adult
would constitute a Class A. B or C felony, in which case the fact-find-
ing hearing shall commence within fourteen days. FCA §739(b)
provides that the respondent may not be detained more than three
days, barring waiver or adjournment. unless the court finds probable
cause. However, under “special circumstances.” a juvenile may be
detained for as long as six days without a probable cause determina-
tion having been made.

6. A “decionated felony act” is defined in FCA §712(h) to in-
clude the following offenses:

(h) “Designated felony act”. An act which, if done by an adult,
would be a crime (i) defined in section 125.27 (murder in the
first degree); 125.25 (murder in the second degree) ; 135.25
(kidnapping in the first degree) ; or 150.20 (arson in the first
degree) ; 130.70 (aggravated sexual abuse) ; 135.20 (kidnanning
or fifteen years of age; (ii) defined in section 120.10 (assault in
the first degree); 125.20 (manslaughter in the first degree) ;
130.35 (rape in the first degree) ; 130.50 (sodomy in the first
degree) : 130.70 (aggravated sexual abuse) ; 135.20 (kidnapping
in the second degree), but only where the abduction involved the
use or threat of use of deadly physical force; 150.15 (arson in
the second degree); or 160.15 (robbery in the first degree) of
the penal law committed by a person thirteen, fourteen, or fif-

(footnote continued on next page)

6a
Appendia A

diagnostic assessment’ precede the dispositional hearing.
The Family Court Judge can choose among several alter-
native dispositions, including suspension of judgment,"
probation,’ placement at home or with other individuals,””
placement in a facility or school where treatment is avail-
able or restrictive placement (incarceration).* The
statutory criteria for determining the appropriate disposi-
tion emphasize the needs and best interests of the juvenile,
the information provided by the probation investigation

teen years of age; (iii) defined in the penal law as an attempt
to commit murder in the first or second degree or kidnapping
in the first decree committed by a person thirteen, fourteen or
fifteen years of age: (iv) defined in section 140.30 (burglary in
the first degree) ; subdivision one of section 140.25 (burglary in
the second degree) ; or subdivision two of section 160.10 (rob-
bery in the second degree) of the penal law committed by a
person fourteen or fifteen years of age; (v) defined in section
120.05 (assault in the second degree) or 160.10 (robbery in the
second degree) of the penal law committed by a person fourteen
or fifteen years of age but only where there has been a prior
finding by a court that such person has previously committed
an act which, if committed by an adult, would be the crime of
assatlt in the second degree. robbery in the second degree or any
designated felony act specified in clause (i), (ii) or (iii) of this
subdivision regardless of the age of such person at the time of
the commission of the prior act; or (vi) other than a misde-
meanor, committed by a person at least seven but less than six-
teen years of age, but only where there has [sic] been two prior
findings by the court that such person has committed a prior act
which, if committed by an adult would be a felony.

7. See FCA §750(3).
8. FCA §755.

9. FCA §757.

10. FCA §756(a) (i).

11. FCA §756(a) (ii), (iii).
12. FCA §753-a.

on
&

4,
ae ee

7a
Appendix A

and diagnostic assessment, the character of the offense and
the need for protection of the community."* Some alter-
natives, however, are foreclosed or available only on a
limited basis. The Family Court Judge has no option to
transfer the juvenile to an adult criminal tribunal. In addi-
tion, placement in a treatment facility turns upon the
availability of space and the consent of the particular
facility..* Even though a Family Court Judge may deter-
mine that placement for treatment is the appropriate dis-
position, therefore, the actual options in a particular case
may be limited to probation or incarceration.

The statutory scheme thus contains facial incongruities.
Preventive detention is authorized solely upon a finding
that a juvenile may do an act in the interim between the
petition and fact-finding which would be a crime if done by
an adult. The potential crimes are not limited to felonies
or violent crimes but include every act which constitutes a
crime under the New York Penal Law.’ The statute itself

13. See generally FCA §§ 711, 753-a(2).

(1981) See note 30, infra; Cf. P. Prescott, The Child Savers, 197

15. The term “crime” is defined in New York Penal Law

§ 10.00(6) as anv felony or mistemearor. This. offenses such as
playing three-card monte can. and, as the record reveals, sometimes
do trigger the sanction of 739(a)(ii). This is in contrast to the
District of Columbia pretrial detention statute, D.C. Code 1973,
§ 23-1322, upheld in United States v. Edwards, 430 A.2d 1321
D.C. App. 1981), under which a suspect may be detained for up to
days pending trial only if that suspect has been charged with the
commission of a “dangerous crime” (i.e., taking or attempting to take
property from another ly force or threat of force, unlawfully entering
or attempting to enter any premises adanted for overnight accommo-
ion of persons or for carrying on business with the intent to com-

(footnote continued on next page)

8a
Appendia A

offers no procedural safeguards and does not set out sub-
stantive criteria, other than the conclusory ‘‘serious risk’’
test, such as prior court contacts or lack of family super-
vision, to limit which accused juveniles may be detained."®
At disposition, on the other hand, elaborate statutory pro-
vision is made for collecting diagnostic and other informa-
tion, and specific criteria are established to guide the Fam-
ily Court Judge.”

THE STATUTORY SCHEME IN PRACTICE

The incongruities of the statutory scheme yield a para-
doxical result in practice. The parties have waged a battle
of statistics regarding the actual disposition of cases in-
volving juveniles detained under 739(a)(ii).% However,

mit an offense therein, arson or attempted arson of any premises
adantable for overnight accommodation of persons or for carrying on
business, forcible rape, or unlawful sale or distribution of narcotics)
or a “crime of violence” (i.e., murder, forcible rape, carnal knowl-
edge of a female under the age of 16, taking or attempting to take
immoral, improper or indecent liberties with a child under the age
of 16, mayhem, kidnapping, robbery, burglary, voluntary man-
slaughter, extortion or blackmail accompanied by threats of violence,
arson, assault with intent to commit any offense, assault with a dan-
gerous weapon, or an attempt or conspiracy to commit any of the
foregoing offenses as defined by any Act of Congress or any State
law, if the offense is punishable by imprisonment for more than one
year). Moreover, the judicial officer ordering preventive detention
must find a substantial probability that the suspect committed that
offense nrior to the imposition of pre-trial detention. Jd. § 23-1322

(b)(2)(C).

16. The case histories in the record reveal instances of detention
under 739(a) (ii) of first offenders.

17. See note 7, supra.

18. The record contains statistical compilations utilized by the
parties to dispute the number of 739(a) (ii) detainees released at or

(footnote continued on next page)

Ya
Appendia A

one critical fact has been established—the vast majority of
juveniles detained under 739(a)(ii) either have their peti-
tions dismissed before an adjudication of delinquency or
are released after adjudication. Of the representative case
studies submitted as evidence, for example, the defendants’
version of events indicates that well over two-thirds of the

before disposition. These include a monograph prepared by the Vera
Institute of Justice and Court Administration Reports for the years
1977 and 1979. None of the data, apart from the representative case
histories, allow a precise comparison of detained juveniles restrictively
Reg and released at disposition. The Vera Study, based on New
ork City juveniles, lumps detentions under 739(a) (ii) with deten-
tions under 739(a)(i), while the Court Administration Reports,
based on statewide data, sufler from that same imprecision but also do
not indicate how many restrictively placed juveniles were ever de-
tained. The Vera Study, relied upon by petitioners, indicates that of
the detained juveniles, 49% have their cases dismissed before trial,
21% are dismissed or released after trial, and only 30% are restric-
tively placed. The Vera Study also demonstrates that, although one-
third of the delinquency petitions filed results in pre-trial detention,
only 11% of all petitions results in restrictive placements. Since the
detainees include those held under (i) as well as (ii), it is not con-
clusive for our purposes. The defendants, on the other hand, apply
a factor derived from the Vera Study’s sample of placed juveniles
who were not detainees to data reflecting total restrictive placements
contained in the Court Administration Reports. From that, they esti-
mate that slightly less than 50% of the juveniles detained under
739(a)(ii) are not placed at disposition. Neither position can be
relied upon for total accuracy. The defendants’ position, however,
is the least reliable. It not only suffers from the overinclusiveness of
both studies but also attempts to combine selected data from a study
based on New York City with selected data from statewide statistics.
We find that the case studies and the Vera Study established that
the great majority of detainees under 739(a) (ii) are released before
or at disposition. Although the defendants have superior access to
generalized statistics and at least an equal opportunity to present a
countersample of case studies, they choose to rely solely upon the
most vulnerable data in the record. Even that data, however, indi-
cates that close to half of all (ii) detainees are quickly released.

10a
Appendiz A

juveniles held under 739(a) (ii) were released at or before
the dispositional hearing.’”

The result in practice is that the vast majority of juve-
niles considered sufficiently dangerous by the Family Court
to justify pre-trial incarceration under 739(a)(ii) are in
fact released by prosecutors or by the Family Court within
days or weeks. Defendants attribute this peculiar result
to the statutory incongruities desuribed above. Detention
decisions under 739(a)(ii) emphasize crime prevention
and are made on the basis of limited information presented
in summary fashion. Dispositional determinctions, on the
other hand, take the juvenile’s welfare and potential for
treatment into account and are based on more detailed and
extensive information.

The defendants offered expert testimony by a Family
Court Judge concerning the actual practice under the
statutory scheme.” He testified that the detention hearing
under 739(a)(ii) usually involves only the Family Court
Judge, a prosecutor, a Court Liaison Officer, the juvenile,

19. The representatives of the thirty-four case histories in the
record is not challenged by the defendants. Adopting the defendants’
version of these histories, final dispositions are known for thirty-two
of the juveniles. The petition of delinquency and results of fact-find-
ing of one juvenile were not offered for admission into evidence and
the record of another juvenile reflects only that he was paroled
pending receipt of certain investigation materials. The vast majority
of that sample, twenty-three of the juveniles, or 70%, were released
at or before disposition stage. Twelve of these cases resulted either
in a dismissal, withdrawal or adjournment in contemplation of dis-
missal before fact-finding; the remaining eleven resulted in either
probation or a suspended sentence.

20. Testimony of Judge Cesar Quinones, Transcript of Trial
Proceedings, pp. 435-513; Joint App. at 521-99.

lla
Appendix A

his or her attorney, and the parents or their representa-
tive." It takes place soon after the arrest and a steno-
graphic record is kept. In the typical case, the evidence
before the Judge is limited to: (a) the petition for delin-
quency and an affidavit by a witness stating the petition is
accurate; (b) a recommendation by the Court Liaison Offi-
cer to detain or release the juvenile based on inquiries and
recommendations made by a probation officer who is usually
not present; (c) siatements by the juvenile or his or her
attorney and by the parents or other persons accompany-
ing the juvenile.”

The Family Court Judge testified that the criteria
utilized in practice under 739(a)(ii) emphasize matters
going solely to the protection of the community. These
include prior record, recent court contacts, seriousness of
the charge, and adequacy of supervisicn.*% He emphasized
that the criteria do not include the interests of the child
and often result in confinement under circumstances harm-
ful to the juvenile.** The same witness testified that the

21. Id. at 477; Joint App. at 533.

22. Id. at 463; Joint App. at 549.

23. Id. at 465-68; Joint App. at 551-54.

24. Judge Quinones testified about the purpose of 739(a) (ii)
detention and emphasized thet such detention may be harmful to the
juvenile :

Q. [by Ms. Gordon] Judge, what is your opinion of the purpose
of the dention that ion 739(a)(2) (sie) authorizes?

ss * *

A. [by Judge Quinones] I believe that the purpose of 739(a)

is really the protection of the community. t baleve that’s the

basic purpose for that provision.

Q. If that statute serves the interest of the child at all, in what

sense does it serve the child’s interest, if you have an opinion?

A. If it serves the child's interest at all, it would be the minimal

benefit that while he is in detention, he is not committing another
(footnote continued on next page)

12a
Appendia A

factors taken into account at the dispositional hearing
differ substantially from those utilized at the 739(a) (ii)
hearing. At disposition, the best interests of the child are
the principal concern and further detention is regarded as
a ‘‘harsh solution.’ Moreover, considerably more infor-

crime; if that can be called a benefit to the youngster, but I don’t
believe that detention is actually for the benefit of the youngster,
not under this statute.

I certainly would not remand anybody for benefit. Perhaps you
might find a rare case where somebody might be so favorably
or so shockingly effected by a short stay in juvenile center that
that might turn him around, but I don’t believe that is the pur-
pose he is put there, no. You put them in for their own good,
I’m sorry.

Q. Are there any disadvantages or bad effects from the detcn-
tion or the pre-trial detention of a juvenile in your opinion?

A. Yes.
Q. What are they?

A. In my opinion, all defenses [sic: detentions], juvenile or
adult, can have bad effects. For one thing, we are talking about
youngsters of tender age. You are taking them away from their
family. I mean, that’s bound to have a psychological . . . detri-
mertal effect on them.

Id. at 479-80; Joint App. at 565-66.

25. Judge Quinones testified about the standards in dispensing
punishment at disposition, as follows:

Q. [by Mr. Guggenheim] How can you account, Judge, for the
fact in a case where the initial reaction of the court is to detain a
child based on a prediction that he will commit another crime or
crimes if not detained with an ultimate disposition in the case of
probation ?

A. [by Judge Quinones] Probation indicates that there has been
a finding in the case. You have to have a fact-finding otherwise
probation wouldn't be discussed.

Now, when it comes to the dispositional hearing, the main pur-
pose of the dispositional hearing or the main thrust ee be
the best interest of the child. In a dispositional hearing you are
supposed to keep the child’s best interest at heart I think

(footnote continued on next page)

13a
Appendiz A

mation about the child is before the Family Court Judge
at the dispositional hearing than is available at the
739(a)(ii) hearing. Not only is the information more
complete and up-to-date, but psychological assessments
are also provided.”

Two other facts influence the'lenient disposition of
adjudicated delinquents. First, as the evidence of the
defendants demonstrated” and as they emphasized at oral
argument,?* the time served, including the preventive
detention period, is frequently considered sufficient pun-
ishment by the Family Court. Juveniles detained under
739(a)(ii) may be held in a secure facility and exposed to

that—well, speaking for myself, I think that any kind of deten-

tion at a dispositional hearing is a very harsh solution to the
roblem and you will look for the least harmful or to the most
neficial disposition at dispositional hearing keeping the best

interest of the child in mind and many times that is probation.

Id. at 505-06; Joint App. at 591-92.
26. Id. at 506-07; Joint App. at 592-93.

27. On redirect examination, judge Quinones added:

Q. [by Ms. Gordon] At the dispositional hearing, Judge Qui-
nones, do you take account of the fact that a child who has been
previously remanded has already spent some time in a restrictive
environment in coming to your disposition?

= [by Judge Quinones] Yes, that is taken into consideration
so.

Id. at 507; Joint App. at 593.

28. At oral argument before this Court on January 12, 1982,
counsel for the defendants argued:

One of those decisions commonly made by a judge is that if a
rson has been detained, even in lieu of bail, that the person
done sufficient jail time, to use that term loosely. Accord-
ingly, to say that a Family Court Judge who issues a disposition
three months, six months later to a child who has been detained,
may simply be a statement that the child has already done enough
time.

Verbatim Transcript of Oral Argument, January 12, 1982, p. 21.

l4a
Appendiz A

assault and criminal subcultures.” Family Court Judges
who consider detention ‘‘harsh’’ in the first place and not
in the juvenile’s interests, will understandably give great
weight to prior confinement.

Second, as already noted, placement in a treatment
facility, an intermediate disposition between probation
and incarceration, is feasible only when a treatment facility
has space and agrees to accept the child. In some cases,
therefore, the Family Court Judge may face a choice
between a disposition regarded as too lenient and another
regarded as too harsh. The former may then be chosen as
more likely to further the best interests of the child. The
practical inability to provide placement in a treatment
facility for criminally inclined juveniles has led to public
expressions of frustration by Family Court Judges in
response to criticisms of lenient dispositions.”

29. Judge Quinones noted in his discussion of the harmful effects
of pre-trial detention the detriment accompanying detention in a secure
facility :

A. [by Judge Quinones] Then again, juvenile center, as much
as we might try, is not the most pleasant place in the world. If
you put them in detention, you are liable to be exposing these
youngsters to all sorts of things. They are liable to be exposed
to assault, they are liable to be exposed to sexual assaults. You
are taking the risk of putting them together with a youngster
that might be much worse than thev possibly might be and it
might have a bad effect in that respect.

Transcript of Trial Proceedings at 480- Joint App. at 566.

30. Judge Edward J. McLaughlin, the Chairman of the Associ-
ation of New York State Family Court Judges, stated recently :

In adjudicating issues involving alleged delinquents, the Legisla-
ture provided that there be two trials. The first, known as a
fact-finding hearing, would be conducted essentially under the
due process rules of a criminal proceeding. If the facts were
proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the court was obliged to con-
duct a second trial to determine whether the delinquent was in
need of treatment and, further, whether treatment was available.

(footnote continued on next page)

15a
Appendix A

Prosecutors take into account judicial attitudes in the
juvenile analogue to plea bargaining, and the dismissal
rate is accelerated in the anticipation that particular juve-
niles will be released even if adjudicated delinquent. The
record indicates that a large percentage of juveniles de-
tained under 739(a) (ii) in fact have their petition dismissed
before fact-finding. Of the case studies, the defendants’
version indicates that over one-third were released under
such circumstances.”

The net result of this combination of statutory language
and conscious judicial practice thus is that by far the
greater number of juveniles incarcerated under 739(a) (ii)
will never be confined as a consequence of a disposition
imposed after an adjudication of delinquency, the usual
course of events being either a dismissal before adjudi-
cation or release upon a post-adjudication dispositional
hearing.”

It is the requirement regarding the availability of treatment that
exposes the court to its greatest public criticism. The Legislature
did not permit the judge to punish the delinquent. Neither is
the judge allowed to compel any institution to accept the delin-
quent for treatment: the treatment facility determines whether
help is available.

This mandate led to the most glaring dissatisfaction with the
court, since it is the delinquent most in need of help-—the sickest,
if you will—who is the least likely to be found eligible for treat-
ment by any existing facility. The situation thus created re-
sembles the case of a terminally ill patient who is not accepted
into a hospital, not because he doesn’t need treatment but because
no treatment is available.

N.Y. Times, March 15, 1982, p. A16, col. 3.
31. See note 20, supra.

32. Part of the detention period for some of these juveniles is
between fact-finding and disposition and thus occurs after an a/judi-
cation of the alleged criminal acts. The testimony was that in the
usual course of events, those juveniles detained under 739(a) (ii)
will continue to be held once adjudicated while those not held in the
pre-trial period will continue to be free pending disposition.

l6a
Appendiz A
DISCUSSION

The presumption of innocence and the requirement
that guilt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt are im-
portant elements of Due Process itself, Jn re Winship, 397
U.S. 358 (1970), which would be gravely diminished in the
protection they afford if individuals can be routinely
incarcerated pending trial. Even the most persuasive
demonstration of innocence cannot prevent the deprivation
of liberty if incarceration precedes, rather than follows,
the adjudication of criminal liability.

The only exceptions presently recognized to this general
rule appear to be brief detentions pending bail hearings,
detention for failure to post bail subject to the Eighth
Amendment’s prohibition on ‘‘excessive’’ bail, or in lim-
ited classes of cases, denial or revocation of bail. See
generally C. Whitebread, Criminal Procedure §§17.01-
17.03 (1980).

The extent to which exceptions other than those relat-
ing to bail may be carved out is not ciear. We believe all
would agree, however, that any exception to the general
rule that incarceration follow, rather than precede, adjudi-
cations of guilt can be justified, if at all, by a compelling
governmental interest. Cf. Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103
(1975). The defendants argue, in the case of 739(a) (ii),
that crime prevention is such an interest. That statute
ostensibly responds to calls for preventive detention to
protect the community from criminally inclined individuals.
As conceived by its proponents, preventive detention is a
method of confining inherently dangerous individuals
accused of crimes pending trial and sentence of confine-

17a
Appendia A

ment. See Note, Preventive Detention Before Trial, 79
Harv. L. Rev. 1489, 1496-98 (1966). The underlying theory
is not that propensity alone justifies confinement but that
the expectation of an adjudication of guilt and subsequent
sentence of confinement, along with a finding of propensity,
justifies protecting the community from the individual in
the interim period. Hruska, Preventive Detention: The
Constitution and the Congress, 3 Creighton L. Rev. 36, 46
(1969). Such a scheme raises serious constitutional ques-
tions which the parties have asked us to address. We
decline, however, to reach those issues because 739(a) (ii)
is utilized principally, not for preventive purposes, but to
impose punishment for unadjudicated criminal acts.

Crime prevention simply does not provide a justifica-
tion for the detention of the vast majority of juveniles
actually held under 739(a)(ii). Family Court Judges, we
are told, release large numbers of detainees at disposition
because much more information pertaining to the particu-
lar juvenile is available there than at the detention stage
and because the Judges tend to find that the time already
served is punishment enough. While the record is silent as
to explanations for the similarly large number of prosecu-
torial dismissals before adjudication, it can be inferred
that such cases as a class involve facts even less compel-
ling as to guilt or appropriateness of further incarcera-
tion.

Accepting the defendants’ view, the vast majority, in all
likelihood over two-thirds, of the 739(a)(ii) detainees fall
into one or more of the following categories: (1) those
against whom the evidence of guilt is weak or insufficient;
(2) those who are not so dangerous that they cannot be

18a
Appendix A

released after a short period of detention; and (3) those
who are regarded as having served enough time in con-
finement. Crime prevention is not a sufficiently compel-
ling governmental interest as to any of these detainees to
justify shortcutting the fundamenta] procedural require-
ment that imprisonment follow, rather than precede,
adjudication. Category (1) involves detainees ultimately
released by prosecutorial dismissal or on a judicial find-
ing of insufficient evidence. As to them, incarceration is
imposed but guilt is never adjudicated. Category (2)
involves detainees about whom a mistaken judgment was
made in the course of the summary hearing held under
739(a)(ii). As to them, no constitutional purpose justifies
their detention. Category (3) involves adjudicated delin-
quents considered to have been punished enough by the
time served. No compelling governmental interest justifies
the imposition of sanctions on members of this group
before, rather than after, adjudication. As to them, deten-
tion serves the purpose of punishment rather than crime
prevention, since early release—within days or at most a
few weeks—by a Family Court Judge contradicts any
asserted need for pre-trial confinement to protect the
community.”

In practice, therefore, the vast majority of the pre-trial
detentions involve either mistakes in judgment fostered
by 739(a)(ii)’s procedurally and substantively unlimited
terms or the imposition of incarceration solely as punish-

33. The state defendants have not contended, and the record
contains no evidence, that the period between arrest and disposition
entails a greater risk of criminal acts by juveniles than the post-
disposition period.

19a
Appendix A

ment for unadjudicated crimes. To the degree that the
goal of crime prevention is implicated at all in the actual
operation of 729(a) (ii), it is only as to the minority, per-
haps less than one-third, of the juveniles actually detained
under its provisions. As to this group, moreover, only the
risk that some might commit crimes is eliminated.

In re Winship, supra, directly ruled that an adjudica-
tion of delinquency which entails the possibility of institu-
tional confinement must rest on proof beyond a reason-
able doubt, because such confinement is constitutionally
analogous to punishment for criminal acts. The provision
invalidated in Winship under the Due Process Clause was
in fact a provision of the New York Family Court Act
which applied a preponderance of the evidence test in
delinquency adjudications. The practice under 739(a) (ii)
is, if anything, more offensive since confinement is im-
posed initially only upon a verified petition and later at
best upon a finding of probable cause.” The Family
Court Judge ordering detention is well aware that most
detainees will either not go to fact-finding or, if they do,
will be released on probation. Section 739(a) (ii) thus
incarcerates—punishes—large numbers of persons upon a
standard of proof which is constitutionally invalid and
which cannot be justified in the name of crime prevention.

Section 739(a)(ii) thus has an unconstitutional impact
as to the vast majority of the juveniles detained under it.
We must now determine whether the statute is invalid as

34, Although in practice the Family Court requires a verified
ition in 739(a) (ii) proceedings, the statute itself does not make
likelihood of guilt a condition precedent to detention. A probable

cause hearing, analogous in all relevant respects to an arraignment, is
held within three to six days after a decision to detain.

20a
Appendia A

to all juveniles or whether individual detainees must liti-
gate the particular circumstances of their confinement.

We hold 739(a) (ii) unconstitutional as to all juveniles.
The pre, or’erant number of persons affected by its terms
suffer punishment without adjudication of guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt and absent a compelling governmental
interest. Individual litigation, however, is a practical
impossibility because the periods of detention are so short
that the litigation is mooted before the merits are deter-
mined. Moreover, the record clearly demonstrates that the
unconstitutional impact of the statute results directly from
its substantively and procedurally unlimited terms which
cause Family Court Judges to incarcerate juveniles they
know will be released before or at disposition. Whether we
view the statutory scheme as commanding the results it
in fact attains or as simply failing ‘‘to provide sufficiently
clear guidance for police, prosecutors and the courts to
enforce [it] in a manner... consistent with [the Due
Process Clanse],’’ United States ex rel. Newsome v. Mal-
colm, 492 F.2d 1166 (2d Cir. 1974) aff’d sub nom. Lefkowitz
v. Newsome, 420 U.S. 283 (1975), matters not, for under
either view it violates constitutional guarantees.”

35. Our view cenficts with that of New York's Court of Anneals,
which has upheld 739(a) (ii) against constitutional attack. Pendle
ex rel. Wavburn v. Schutt. 39 N.Y.2d 682. 385 N.Y.S.2d 518 (1976).
Althouch the burden of the Court's opinion was directed to a claim
that differential treatment of juveniles and adu'ts violated the Equal
Protectior Clause, it recognized that preventive detention under
739(a) (ii) is imposed unon large numbers of juveniles who are in
fact relensed after the dispositional hearing. This was attributed to
the superior information availab'e at that stage to inform the Family
Court Judge as to the proper disnosition. The Court held this con-
stitutionally insignificant. We disagree for the reasons stated.

2la
Appendia A

Our decision is strictly limited to the precise issue
before us. We hold only that pre-trial detention may not
be imposed for anti-crime purposes pursuant to a substan-
tively procedurally unlimited statutory authority when, in
all likelihood, most detainees will either not be adjudicated
guilty or will not be sentenced to confinement after an
adjudication of guilt. In such circumstances, the detention
period serves as punishment imposed without proof of
guilt established according to the requisite constitutional
standard. We intimate no view as to the constitutionality
of preventive detention in other circumstances.

The sole remaining issue is the scope of the relief
granted. Judge Carter allowed this habeas corpus action
to proceed as a class action, certifying the class as ‘‘all
juveniles who are now being held or will be held before
these proceedings are concluded, in pretrial detention
under §4739(a)(ii) ....’’ Appellants do not challenge
this certification. His order, entered on June 1, 1981,
provided that the writ be granted as to all members of
that class, i.¢., those detained under 739(a) (ii) at any time
before this action is concluded. Appellants challange the
order on the grounds that it grants in futuro release to
individuals whose incarceration begins only after entry of
judgment in the District Court. Class actions are permis-
sible in habeas corpus proceedings, United States ex rel.
Sero v. Preiser, 506 F.2d 1115 (2d Cir. 1974), cert. denied
421 U.S. 921 (1975), and the writ is available to attack
future confinement, Peyton v. Rowe, 391 U.S. 54 (1968).
It is also clear, however, that the remedy of habeas cornus
is directed to the unlawful custody of individuals, while

22a
Appendix A

prospective relief against enforcement of an invalid stat-
ute must be obtained in an action for an injunetion under
42 U.S.C. $1983. Sce Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475
(1973). The prospective effect of Judge Carter's order
affects only those detained in custody while this action
continues, not those who may be detained thereafter. We
believe that the ‘in eustody”’ language of 28 U.S.C. § 2254
does not require institution of repeated individual actions
for each new detainee while an appeal from a judgment in
a class action is being actively considered. The fact of
potential custody is clearly present during the period of
litigation, and the defendants are always free to seek a
stay of any such order from the appellate court. The order
below thus does not significantly expand use of the writ."
Affirmed.

Newman, Circuit Judge, concurring:

I concur in afirming the judgment holding unconstitu-
tional New York's preventive detention law for accused
juvenile delinquents, N.Y. Family Court Act § 739(a) (ii)
(McKinney 1975), but my reasoning differs from that set
forth in Judge Winter's thoughtful opinion for the Court.
All members of the panel are in agreement that, even if

36. This issue is apparently contested only because the state de-
fendants believe that however unconstitutional 739(a) (ii) may be,
injunctive relief is unavailable because the only feasible defendants
are Family Court Judges who are immune from suit under § 1983,
Brief of Intervenor-Appellant, p, 85, note, p. 86, note. Relief from
739(a) (ii) is, in their view, available only through successive indi-
vidual habeas corpus actions. However, we fail to see why a custodial
official holding a juvenile under the authority of 739(a) (ii) is not
subject to a Section 1983 action.

23a
Appendia A

the Constitution permits preventive detention of those not
yet found to have violated adult penal statutes or juvenile
delinquency laws, this New York provision fails to com-
port with the requirements of the Due Process Clause of
the Fourteenth Amendment. The majority concludes that
section 739(a)(ii) denies liberty without due process be-
cause in the ‘‘vast majority’’ of instances where detention
has been ordered cither ‘‘mistakes in judgment’’ have
been made concerning the finding of serious risk that the
accused may commit a crime or the detention has been
imposed ‘‘solely as punishment for unadjudicated crimes,’"
Slip op. ——, supra. The ‘‘mistakes in judgment”’’ are
said to be fostered by the statute’s ‘‘procedurally and
substantively unlimited terms,’’ that is, the statute’s grant
of limitless discretion to Family Court judges making the
detention decision has in fact led to an unacceptable number
of mistaken decisions. These instances of detention im-
posed for the purpose of punishment are found to conflict
directly with the constitutional requirement that punish-
ment be imposed only after adjudication of guilt. See In
re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (1970). I am less certain than
the majority that the record supports a conclusion of a
significant number of instances where detention was im-

1, It is arguable that, with respect to those accused of crime,
pretrial detention imposed solely for the purpose of preventing the
commission of future crimes prior to trial is punishment. With re-
spect to those convicted of crime, the imposition of added confinement,
beyond the penalties for the specific offense, is nonetheless punishment
despite the prospective purpose of preventing future harm. Specht v.
Patterson, U.S, 605, 608-09 (1967). The extension of that prin-
ciple to those accused of crimes raises the broad issue of whether
pretrial detention to prevent future crime is ever permissible, an issue
that need not be faced in deciding this case. For purposes of this
appeal, I am willing to assume that pretrial detention ordered for the

purpose of preventing future crime serves a regulatory purpose.

240
Appendia A

posed either mistakenly or for purposes of punishment.
Nevertheless, under traditional analysis of the require-
ments of the Due Process Clause, I am persuaded that
New York’s statute is unconstitutional because it permits
liberty to be denied, prior to adjudication of guilt, in the
exercise of unfettered discretion as to an issue of consid-
erable uncertainty—likelihood of future criminal beha-
vior. In short, the statute denies due process, in my
judgment, not because it has been shown to yield an
unacceptable number of mistaken or impermissible results,
but simply because it needlessly creates an unacceptable
risk of such results.

Traditional due process analysis requires consideration
of three factors in determining the constitutional adequacy
of procedures by which a governmental interest is advanced
at the expense of an individual interest: (1) ‘‘the private
interest that will be affected by the official action,’’ (2)
‘the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest
through the procedures used, and the probable value, if
any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards,’’
and (3) ‘‘the Government’s interest, including the function
involved and the fiscal and administrative burdens that the
additional or substitute procedural requirement would
entail.’’ Mathews v. Eldridae, 424 U.S, 319, 335 (1976).

The private interest impaired by § 739(a) (ii) is personal
liberty, obviously of fundamental importance. The power
of arrest, subject to Fourth Amendment limitations, per-
mits that interest to be impaired in advance of an adjudi-
cation of guilt, but not under procedures that fail to
provide ‘‘sufficiently clear guidance for police, prosecu-

25a v
Appendia A

tors, and the courts’’ so that the Fourth Amendment is
observed. United States ex rel. Newsome v. Malcolm, 492
F.2d 1166, 1174 (2d Cir. 1974). The precise private interest
at issue in this case is personal liberty after arrest and
before trial under circumstances where a court has already
determined that there does not exist a substantial proba-
bility of flight.’

The governmental interest is the prevention of future
crimes, obviously of great significance in general, but of
high value in a particular case only to the extent that the
pretrial detention of a person will prevent the commission
of a crime that he would have committed if not detained,
or will at least significantly reduce the risk of his commit-
ting such a crime. Of course, while detained the person
will not commit an ordinary street crime against members
of the public; the uncertainty in determining whether his
pre-trial detention advances a governmental interest arises
from the difficulty of predicting whether he would have
committed a crime if not detained, or assessing at least
the probability of his doing so. That difficulty requires
consideration of the third due process factor, the risk of
an erroneous deprivation and the probable value of safe-
guards,

The hazards of predicting human behavior are well
known. They are not diminished when the issue is whether
a person arrested for one crime will, in the interval prior to
his trial, commit another crime. Presumably, the legislative
judgment reflected in New York’s statute rests primarily on

2. The juvenile may be detained if “there is a substantial prob-
ability that he will not appear in court on the return date.” N.Y.
Family Court Act § 739(a)(i) (McKinney 1975),

26a
Appendix A

the traditional rationale for preventive detention: a person
who has committed a crime may have a propensity for
committing crimes, and the likelihood that an arrested
person has in fact committed a crime may be a sufficient
basis for including him in the class of those who are likely
to commit other crimes. Perhaps, in addition, the legisla-
ture believed that some persons accused of crime may
expect that they will be convicted and may estimate that
they are unlikely to receive enhanced punishment for a
crime committed prior to sentencing on the initial charge.
Under the stress of apprehending punishment, they may
mistakenly think they can with impunity commit a ‘‘free’’
crime.®

The spirited debate over preventive detention has
focused primarily on whether the ‘‘propensity’’ rationale
has sufficient validity to justify the risk of detaining some
individuals after arrest who in fact would not have com-
mitted a crime if not detained prior to trial.* It is not
necessary in this case to assess the ultimate issue whether

3. Since the challenged statute authorizes detention only on the
basis of a prediction of commission of a future crime, it does not pur-
port to rest on other rationales advanced in support of some juvenile
detention statutes that concern protecting the juvenile from dangerous
home conditions or assuring his availability for study or treatment.
See Comment, A Due Process Dilemma: Pretrial Detention in Juve-
nile Delinquency, 11 John Marshall J. Prac. & Proc. 513 (1978);
Note, The Right to Bail and the Pre-Trial” Detention of Juveniles
Accused of “Crime,” 18 Vand. L. Rev. 2096 (1965).

4. Compare iIruska, Preventive Detention: The Constitution
and the Congress, 3 Creighton L. Rev. 36 (1969), and Mitchell, Bail
Reform and the Constitutionality of Pretrial Detention, 55 Va. L. Rev.
1223 (1969), with Tribe, An Ounce of Detention: Preventive Justice
in the World of John Mitchell, 56 Va. L. Rev. 371 (1970), and
ag Preventive Detention and the Crime of Being Dangerous, 58
Geo. L.J. 287 (1969).

27a
Appendix A

the Constitution prohibits pretrial detention on the basis
of uncertain predictions of future criminal behavior. See
Sellers v. United States, 89 8, Ct. 36, 38 (1968) (Cham-
bers’ opinion of Black, J., questioning whether danger-
ousness is ‘‘ever’’ a justifiable ground for denying bail).
The far narrower issue here is whether the risk of an
erroneous prediction about future crime i» high and
whether safeguards not included in section 739(a) (ii)
would be of value. To state the issue is to answer it. The
proponents of preventive detention doubtless assess the
risk of erroneous determinations somewhat lower than do
the opponents, but on the present state of knowledge con-
cerning predictions of criminal behavior, only the foolhardy
would deny that even with carefully circumscribed decision-
making, a significant risk of erroneous perdiction remains.
New York’s statute does not include readily available
limitations that would reduce the risk of error. First, the
statute places no limits on the crimes for which the person
subject to detention has been arrested. Even the most
ardent advocates of preventive detention do not claim
that commission of any crime, no matter how minor, pro-
vides an adequate basis for predicting commission of a
future crime. Second, the judge ordering detention is
not required to make any evaluation of the degree of
likelihood that the person committed the crime of which
he is accused. The statute authorizes pretrial detention
without a finding of probable cause.’ Third, the judge is
5. See Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 114 (1975) (“[T]he
Fourth Amendment requires a judicial determination of probable
cause as a — to extended restraint of liberty following
arrest.”). Even if some standard of proof less than probable cause
would suffice to justify detention for the three to six days prior to the
le cause regs | mandated for all pretrial detainees, see N.Y.

amily Court Act §739(b) (McKinney 1975), New York's pre-
ventive detention statute contains no standard at all.

28a
Appendia A

not required to assess the individual’s background; a
juvenile with solid family support, no prior criminal record,
and attending school or working is subject to preventive
detention in the unfettered discretion of the Family Court
judge, even when arrested for non-violent crimes. Fourth,
the statute places no limits on the type of crimes that the
judge believes the detained juvenile might commit if
released. Though u legislature has broad power to pro-
scribe a variety of conduct as criminal, it does not neces-
sarily have equivalent power to authorize pretrial detention
because of the risk that the detained person might commit
any of the acts, no matter how minor, for which criminal
penalties have been establis :d. Fifth, the statute does
not specify any standard of proof by which the judge must
be persuaded of a serious risk of future crime.’ In marke
contrast to the limitations in the well-known District of
Columbia preventive detention statute upheld in United
States v. Edwards, 430 A.2d 1321 (D.C. App. 1981), the
New York provision permits the judge to order detention
of any juvenile accused of any crime whenever he deter-
mines that there is a ‘‘serious risk’’ of any future crime.’

6. Cf. Addington v. Texas, 441 U.S. 418 (1979) (requiring stand-
ard of “clear and convincing” proof to justify civil commitment to a
mental hospital) ; Speiser v. Randall, 357 U.S. 513, 525-26 (1958)
(emphasizing importance of burden of proof when liberty of criminal
defendant is at stake).

7. Even the Nebraska constitutional provision mandating pre-
ventive detention, which was declared unconstitutional by the Eighth
Circuit for lack of individualized decision-making applied only to those
accused of three serious crimes, treason, murder, and aggravated sex-
ual offenses, and then only “where the proof is evident or the pre-
sumption great.” Neb. Const. art. I, §9; Hunt v. Roth, 648 P24
1982s Cir. 1981), vacated as moot per curiam, 102 S. Ct. 1181

29a
Appendix A

In my judgment, the Due Process Clause forbids the
exercise of such unbridled discretion to inflict a deprivation
as serious as loss of liberty in advance of trial on the basis
of a highly uncertain prediction of future criminal beha-
vior.*

For these reasons I concur in the affirmance of the
judgment of the District Court.[t]

8. The appellees’ claim of a denial of liberty without procedural
due process does not assert that the New Yors statute lacks such
traditional procedural requirements as notice and hearing. Of the
five deficiencies I have noted, only the absence of a specified burden
of proof concerns the type of procedural device normally comprehended
within the requirements of procedural due process. Yet all of the
deficiencies are procedural in the sense that they augment the risk of
erroneous fact-finding, which is the risk sought to be reduced by the

ural component of due — Cf. Carlson v. Landon, 342

S. 524, 543 (1952) (upholding the Attorney General’s authority

to deny bail to a narrowly described class of aliens, prior to deporta-

tion hearings, because “the Attorney General is not left with untram-

meled discretion as to bail” and must “justify his refusal of bail by
reference to the legislative scheme”).

[t] Filed September 20, 1982.—Ed.

30a

APPENDIX B

June 1, 1981 District Court Judgment
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

Sournern District or New York

77 Civ. 6176 (RLC)

tl OE

Unrtrep Srates or America ex rel. Grecory Martiy, Luts
Rosario, Kenneto Moraay, et al.,
Petitioners,
against

Paut Srrassvrc, as Commissioner, New York City
Department of Juvenile Justice,
Respondent.

This action for habeas corpus and declaratory relief
came on for trial before the Court, Honorable Robert L.
Carter, District Judge, presiding, and the issues having
been duly tried and a decision having been duly rendered,
it is Ordered and Adjudged:

1. The New York Family Court Act Section 739 (a) (ii),
is unconstitutional, both on its face and as applied, in that
it contravenes the rights of petitioners and the class they
represent to due process of law as guaranteed by the 14th
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

3la
Appendix B

2. The application for writs of habeus corpus for mem-
bers of the petitioner class in the custody of respondent is
granted and all class members in custody pursuant to
Family Court Act Section 739 (a)(ii) shall be released
forthwith.

/8/ Rosert L. Carrer
Rosvert L. Canter, U.S.D.J.

Dated: New York, New York
May 29, 1981

JupGMEeNt Enrerep 6/1/81

/8/ Raymonp F. Burouarpr

Clerk

32a

APPENDIX C

April 17, 1981 District Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SovrHern District or New York

77 Civ. 6176 (RLC)

—

Unirep Srates or America ex rel. Grecory Martry,
Luis Rosario, Kenneta Morcan, et al.,

Petitioners,
against

Pav Srrassurc, as Commissioner, New York City
Department of Juvenile Justice,

Respondent.

[APPEARANCES OMITTED IN Printrno.]
Carter, District Judge
OPINION
I

Statement of the Case

This habeas corpus class action proceeding is being
brought on behalf of a class of all juveniles who are being
held or who will be held before these proceedings are con-

33a
Appendix C

cluded in pretrial detention under N.Y. Family Court Act
§739(a)(ii) (McKinney) (‘‘the Act’’). Petitioners seek
a declaratory judgment that §739(a)(ii) violates the due
process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amend-
ment. The case was certified as a class action in an unpub-
lished opinion dated April 3, 1978.

In New York persons between the ages of 7 and 16
accused of various acts which would be a crime if com-
mitted by an adult are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction
of the family court to be prosecuted as juvenile delinquents.’
In the exercise of its exclusive jurisdiction over juvenile
delinquents, the family court is authorized under the Act to
subject an alleged delinquent to pretrial detention prior to
a probable cause or fact finding determination if it deter-
mines that ‘‘there is a serious risk that he may before the
return date do an act which if committed by an adult would
constitute acrime.’’ 4 739(ii) [sic]. The youth may also be
detained because of the substantial probability that he will
not appear on the return date 739 (a)(i), but this pro-
vision is not involved or challenged in this litigation.’

1. For most serious crimes such as murder and arson, members
of this group 13 years old and older may be prosecuted as juvenile
offenders in the criminal court. N.Y. Penal Law $10.00(18) (Me-
Kinney). This subclass, however, does not concern us.

2. N.Y. Family Court Act § 739 (McKinney) provides:

(a) After the filing of a petition under section seven hundred
thirty-one or seven hundred thirty-two, the court in its discretion
may release the respondent or direct his detention. In exercising
its discretion under this section, the court shall not direct de-
tention unless it finds [sic: phrase omitted] that unless the re-
spondent is detained :

(i) there is a substantial probability that he will not appear
in court on the return date; or

(footnote continued on next page)

34a
Appendia C

A trial on the merits occurred in March, 1980. Edward
Rodriguez, a 16 year old, Juan Santiago, a 15 year old, and
Jerome Basnight, a 17 year old, representatives of the class,
testified in person. In addition, the files of their proceed-
ings in the family court along with the § 739 case histories
of 33 other purported members of the class were introduced
in evidence. One of the case histories concerns a Vincent
Harris who was not detained and accordingly is not prop-
erly a member of the class. The Attorney General contends
that Victor Melendez is not properly a member of the class
since he was detained pursuant to §739(a)(i). A reading
of the files does not support that contention, however. At
the § 739 hearing of Melendez, the judge paraphrased the
language of both §739(a)(i) and §739(a)(ii) as grounds
for Melendez’ detention. Accordingly, we will count him
as properly included in the class. However, Daryl] Larkin,
whose case history is included in the class was detained
because, in the judge’s view, there was ‘‘a grave chance”’
that he would not return to court. (Exhibit 9A). That is
the basis for detention under § 739(a)(i). In his brief the
attorney general states that Larkin was detained under
both §739(a)(i) and (ii), but I read the transcript differ-

(ii) there is a serious risk that he may before the return
date do an act which if committed by an adult would constitute
a crime.

(b) Unless the respondent waives a determination that prob-
able cause exists to believe that he is a juvenile delinquent or a
person in need of supervision, no detention under this section
may last more than three days (i) unless the court finds, pursuant
to the evidentiary standards applicable to a hearing on a felony
complaint in a criminal court, that such probable cause exists, or
(ii) unless special circumstances exist, in which cases such de-
tention may be extended not more than an additional three days
exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

35a
Appendia C

ently. Larkin, therefore, will not be considered a member
of the class. Thus, the case histories which will be studied
are those of 3 named petitioners and 31 other members of
the class.

In addition there was testimony concerning the family
court process by Steven Hiltz, an attorney for 9 years in
the juvenile rights division of the Legal Aid Society, and
attorney-in-charge of its Manhattan office from 1976-1979,
Hubert Benjamin, supe:visor of probation in Bronx Family
Court since 1968 and a probation officer for 30 years, and
Judge Cesar Quinones, of the Family Court of the City of
New York since 1970, who testified concerning § 739 hear-
ings from a judge’s perspective.

Michael Bigley, director of detention services of the New
York State Division for Youth and Ralph E. Kelly, deputy
commissioner of operations of New York City Department
of Juvenile Justice, testified concerning secure and non-
secure facilities and the functions of the state and city
agencies in the housing of juveniles remanded after a § 739
hearing. Professor Leslie Wilkins, professor of criminal
justice at the State University of New York at Albany, and
Dr. Lynwood David Zinn, Director of Child Psychology at
Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, and clinical
assistant professor at the University of Chicago, testified
as experts for petitioners concerning the harmful effects
pretrial detention inflicts on the young and the arbitrari-
ness and untrustworthiness of predictions that a juvenile
will commit a crime in the future. Dr. Wilkins questioned
whether any reasoned predictive determination to that
effect could be made by a family court judge on the basis

36a
Appendia C

of an intake interview and stated that the judge’s subjec-
tive prognosis founded on such data would be roughly only
4% better than pure chance, Finally, Judge Margaret
Driscoll of the Supreme Court of Connecticut and with 18
years on the bench testified about national juvenile stand-
ards and Connecticut procedures in respect of the pretrial
detention of juveniles.

II

The § 739 Case Histories of the Named Plaintiffs and 31
Other Members of the Class

Edwin Rodriguez was arrested on December 12, 1977,
and charged with arson and reckless endangerment (that
he with other youths attempted to start a fire in a subway
station). Rodriguez was 14 at the time and had no prior
arrest record. He had a 6739 hearing on December 13,
1977, before Judge Ferrara. Probation recommended de-
tention. He was detained on the grounds that he was
charged with a serious act that occurred at 12:30 A.M., and
he was not going to school. Gi

Pirease Take Notice that the Intervenor-Appellant,
Rosert Asrams, as Attorney General of the State of New
York, hereby appeals to the Supreme Court of the United
States pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1254(2) from a judgment
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit, entered on September 20, 1982, which affirmed a

103a
Appendix E

judgment of the United States District Court for the South-
ern District of New York declaring New York Family
Court Act 4 739(a) (ii) unconstitutional, and from each and
every part thereof.

Dated: New York, New York
October 19, 1982[+]

[ AppRESSEES OMITTED 1N Paintin.)

Rosert ABRAMS
Attorney General of the
State of New York
By:
s/ Jvupira A. Gorpoyx

Jupita A. Gorpox
Assistant Attorney General
Intervenor-Appellant, Pro Se
Two World Trade Center
New York, New York 10047
(212) 482-2462

(t] Filed on October 20, 1982.—Ed.

104a

APPENDIX F

Notice of Appeal for Appellant
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

For tur Seconp Circuit

Docket Nos. 81-2175, 81-2193
8 ee
Grecory Mantis, Luts Rosarito, Kennetu Moroan,
And all others similarly situated,

Petitioners-Appellees,
v.

Pavi Srraspure, as Commissioner of the New York City
Department of Juvenile Justice,

Respondent-A ppellant,
Ronert Aprams, as Attorney General of the

State of New York,
Intervenor.

Notice is hereby given that Pavt Srrassure, the re-
spondent above-named, hereby appeals to the Supreme
Court of the United States from the final judgment of this
Court entered in this action on September 20, 1982, which
affirmed a judgment of the United States District Court
for the Southern District of New York (Carter, J.), en-

105a
Appendix F

tered on June 1, 1981, declaring New York Family Court
Act, section 739(a) (ii), unconstitutional.

This appeal is taken pursuant to 28 U.S.C. section
1254(2).

Freperick A, 0. Scuwarz, JR.
Corporation Counsel of the
City of New York
Attorney for Respondent-Appellant[t]

[t] Filed on December 3, 1982.—Ed.

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385010_0350%3A02. Public record. Not legal advice.
