Advocating a Functional Approach to Determining Adjudicative Competency in Juveniles

Abstract

ABSTRACT The U.S. Supreme Court required extending to juvenile delinquency proceedings those due process rights guaranteed in criminal proceedings. Most states have recognized the legal concept of adjudicative competence for participation in juvenile cases, although the Supreme Court has never established a standard for adjudicative competence in juvenile proceedings. Consequently, competency requirements for participation in delinquency cases vary considerably across states. With the extensive variability and the ambiguity of many state's statutes on the subject, forensic evaluators and attorneys are frequently confused about appropriate competence procedures with youthful defendants. This article recommends a functional-ability-based approach to evaluating competency in juvenile defendants. Such an approach promotes effective understanding and participation in adjudicative proceedings without requiring a specific age, mental health status or IQ-cutoff for incompetency findings.