In June of 1964 in Gila County, Arizona, 15 year old Gerald Francis Gault was taken into custody by police for allegedly making obscene, harassing phone calls (In re Gault, n.d.). Gault claimed that a friend, Ronald Lewis, had made the harassing phone calls to a neighbor and that he was not involved in any way. Gault had already been placed on probation for a prior offense. After being taken into custody, Gault’s parents were not notified of his status by law enforcement officials(In re Gault, n.d.). Instead, Gault’s mother located him at the juvenile detention center, but was not allowed to take him home.
At a preliminary hearing, a juvenile judge remanded Gault to custody. Gault was released from the juvenile detention center several days later, along with a note, notifying his mother of an upcoming hearing (In re Gault, n.d.). At the hearing, the juvenile court judge ordered Gault into the custody of the State Industrial School until age 21 or discharged by due process of law (In re Gault, n.d.). Arizona State law at the time did not allow for any appeals in juvenile cases, therefore, Gault’s parents petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus. The
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The Gaults again petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court with two specific issues. First, they argued that the Arizona Juvenile Code was insufficient because it did not allow for notification to parents of the charges brought about or of the hearings, and it did not allow for an appeal (US Courts, n.d.). Second, they argued that Juvenile Court’s denial of due process, the failure to inform to right of counsel, the admittance of hearsay, and lack of record keeping of proceedings was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment (US Courts,