In re Gault

US Supreme Court decision of 1967 that established the right of minors to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. The parents of Gerald Gault, a 15-year-old sentenced to reform school by the Arizona juvenile court, filed for a writ of habeas corpus on the grounds that their son's detention after only a summary hearing violated his rights to counsel, notice of hearings, and cross examination and his protection against self-incrimination. The Supreme Court found that the juvenile court was in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, setting a clear precedent that minors were to be guaranteed due process of law.