Juvenile (In)Justice: How Juvenile Pretrial Detention in Maryland Violates the Juvenile Causes Act and Supreme Court Jurisprudence

The comment discusses Maryland’s Courts & Judicial Proceedings Article, §3-8A-02, along with the case law that explains it. The comment argues that Maryland is violating its code and case law by unnecessarily detaining children in placements that are fundamentally unsafe, dehumanizing, and ineffective. It explains how the Supreme Court has differentiated between adults and children in recent cases (ranging from Roper v. Simmons to Montgomery v. Louisiana) and then provides empirical evidence from scientific studies in order to lay the foundation that children are extraordinarily different from adults in that they are more susceptible to the psychological trauma of incarceration. The comment concludes by recommending that alternatives to detention, such as community-based treatment and therapeutic foster care, are in the best interest of the child, community, and the state for therapeutic, safety, and financial reasons