Kristin Henning | Georgetown University (original) (raw)

Papers by Kristin Henning

The Legacy of Racism for Children

Both explicit and implicit racial biases shape police and civilian perceptions of and responses t... more Both explicit and implicit racial biases shape police and civilian perceptions of and responses to adolescent offending. In turn, Black youths’ contemporary and historical personal and vicarious experiences with racism and policing shape their perceptions of and responses to the police. Although youth of all races generally exhibit the same developmental trajectories of cognitive and psychosocial capacities, minority youth are treated more harshly than their peers. This chapter highlights the attitudes, expectations, and experiences that youth and law enforcement bring to a shared encounter and examines how they play out in the interaction itself. The chapter also discusses the implications for justice policies and practices and for training. Reform should focus on school-based police presence and enhanced police training that involves youth. Research should foreground multiple methodologies using an intersectionality lens. Only when racial minority youth experience fair treatment a...

Punishment in Popular Culture

The Oxford Handbook of Prosecutors and Prosecution, 2021

The U.S. Supreme Court has explicitly recognized adolescents’ developmental immaturity and potent... more The U.S. Supreme Court has explicitly recognized adolescents’ developmental immaturity and potential for rehabilitation as a significant mitigating factor in criminal cases. Yet, persistent racial disparities at all stages of the juvenile and criminal legal systems suggest that key principles of adolescent development are not applied equitably across race and class. Racial stereotypes that portray youth of color as inherently dangerous negatively affect judgments about adolescent maturity, culpability, risk of recidivism, and deserved punishment. As gatekeepers of juvenile court jurisdiction, prosecutors have a unique opportunity to identify and resist explicit and implicit racial bias in the system and insist upon developmental equity for all youth. This chapter draws upon recent findings in developmental psychology and the cognitive science of bias to offer a framework that will improve prosecutorial decision-making, enhance public safety, and help all youth achieve a healthy and ...

Rights, Race, and Reform, 2018

The American University law review, 2018

Law. I am grateful to Brittany Harwell and Jenadee Nanini for their excellent research assistance... more Law. I am grateful to Brittany Harwell and Jenadee Nanini for their excellent research assistance. I am also grateful to the many colleagues who reviewed earlier drafts of this Article in the Mid-Atlantic Criminal Law Research Collective and the faculty research workshop at the George Washington University Law School. encounter with a youth against the same "reasonable person" standard applied to adults. However, in 2011, the Supreme Court announced a major shift in criminal justice jurisprudence when it held in J.D.B. v. North Carolina that the test for determining whether a child was in "custody" for purposes of Miranda v. Arizona must be evaluated through the lens of a "reasonable juvenile" rather than a reasonable adult. Since then, several scholars have called for the extension of the reasonable child standard to other aspects of criminal law and procedure, including the Fourth Amendment. These shifts provide a critically important advance in criminal procedure, but may not go far enough to protect the rights of black youth who are disproportionately overrepresented in the juvenile justice system. To ensure adequate Fourth Amendment protection for black youth, Professor Henning argues that police and courts should be honest about how race and age affect every critical decision in the Fourth Amendment inquiry. To this end, it is incumbent upon police officers to better understand the nature of adolescent development and implicit racial bias and to develop more appropriate strategies for engaging black youth. It is equally incumbent upon reviewing courts to reject outdated assumptions about the meaning of "suspect" behavior-including flight from the police-and to rethink the limits of the reasonable person standard throughout the Fourth Amendment doctrine.

A New Juvenile Justice System, 2015

Child welfare, 2010

Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly recognizes the imp... more Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly recognizes the importance of the child's voice in judicial proceedings that affect him or her. Nowhere is the child's voice more important than in delinquency proceedings where decisions will be made about the child's liberty, rehabilitative prospects, and other important constitutional rights. This article examines the role of the child's voice in improving fairness and accuracy in adjudicatory and dispositional decisions and enhancing therapeutic outcomes for youth in juvenile court.

Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 2016

The juvenile court was created in 1899 in part to remedy the unfairness of trying youth in the ad... more The juvenile court was created in 1899 in part to remedy the unfairness of trying youth in the adult criminal justice system, but its success at rectifying those problems is unclear. One concern is that the vast majority of youth who are adjudicated delinquent are adjudicated after waiving their right to trial and entering a guilty plea. Fairness and equity in the plea bargaining process are premised on the assumption that youth have the capacity to understand and elect between available options and will be given a meaningful opportunity to choose without coercion and deception. In legal terms, the Constitution will only sanction a plea when the defendant makes a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent waiver of her right to trial. In this chapter, we briefly describe the juvenile court process and explain the circumstances of a plea bargain, which constitutes both a waiver of Constitutional rights and an agreement to certain conditions. Then we evaluate the research and practice knowledge regarding the legal components of a valid waiver-that it must be knowing and voluntary. We consider how information, capacity, and circumstance contribute to a knowing waiver. Then we examine how procedural justice, paternalism, and coercion may affect a voluntary waiver. Throughout, we consider whether the people, policies, and practices meant to assess and safeguard that waiver decision fulfill their intended purpose.

Notre Dame Law Review, 2005

My first task is] to get these kids help. If they don't agree with me, I don't care. I know what ... more My first task is] to get these kids help. If they don't agree with me, I don't care. I know what is in their best-interest better than their parents do."l Quote of child's defense counsel in Texas. October 2000. "Sometimes we sell 'em down the river. I get confused as to whether to be an advocate or act in the best-interest of the child."2 Quote of child's defense counsel in Maine. October 2003. "I have a Public Defender, but it isn't quite the same as having a lawyer. He works with the judge, not like a real lawyer. If he were real, then he would not follow along with the judge."3 Quote of juvenile defendant in Washington. October 2003.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2012

Further, as the gatekeepers of juvenile court jurisdiction, prosecutors should work with developm... more Further, as the gatekeepers of juvenile court jurisdiction, prosecutors should work with developmental experts, school officials, and other community representatives to develop and publish juvenile charging standards that reflect these goals. To increase transparency and encourage buy-in from the public, Professor Henning recommends that prosecutors track charging decisions according to race and neighborhood and provide community representatives and other stakeholders with an opportunity to review those decisions for disparate impact. Finally, to ensure that communities of color are able to respond to adolescent offending without state intervention, Professor Henning contemplates a more expansive role for prosecutors who will engage school officials and community representatives in the identification and development of adequate community-based, adolescent-appropriate alternatives to prosecution.

Legal disputes involving children invariably evoke a complex matrix of issues such as child and a... more Legal disputes involving children invariably evoke a complex matrix of issues such as child and adolescent capacity, individual rights and autonomy, parental authority, and in the criminal justice context—diminished culpability for a minor‘s actions. While it is difficult to identify a clear and cohesive jurisprudence regarding the balance between children‘s autonomy and children‘s vulnerability across Supreme Court cases, a series

While it is virtually undisputed that children have some Fourth Amendment rights independent of t... more While it is virtually undisputed that children have some Fourth Amendment rights independent of their parents, it is equally clear that youth generally receive less constitutional protection than adults. In a search for continuity and coherence in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence involving minors, Professor Henning identifies three guiding principles – context, capacity, and parental authority - that weave together children’s rights

Since the middle to late twentieth century, the pendulum has begun to swing back in the direction... more Since the middle to late twentieth century, the pendulum has begun to swing back in the direction of private redress with the creation and enforcement of victims' rights. The earliest victims' movements in 1972 were led by women's rights activists in response to domestic violence and rape cases. 1 3 These activists complained that victims had no voice in the prosecutorial process, were not being treated with sensitivity and respect by police and prosecutors, and were not being provided with adequate restitution or services to address the psychological, emotional, and material impacts of crime.1 4

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2006

ABSTRACT

Nev. LJ, 2005

I thank Paul Holland, Annette Appell, and members of the Junior Faculty Research Workshop at Geor... more I thank Paul Holland, Annette Appell, and members of the Junior Faculty Research Workshop at Georgetown for their comments and feedback on drafts of this article. I also thank Kathleen Pirozzolo for her invaluable research assistance.