Two Voices on the Legal Rights of America's Youth

This text takes a unique approach to understanding judicial decisions, offering feedback and discussion from two generations' points of view. TWO VOICES consists of edited judicial decisions and accompanying text covering diverse legal issues involving minors. To help students understand a court's reasoning and the case outcome, the authors discuss the nature of legal reasoning and the case method of study, as well as a sample edited judicial decision and an explanation and example of how to "brief" a case. A variety of legal issues directly relevant to young people are presented, engaging students in a dialogue designed to explore the meaning and the implications of the case decisions.

James R. Acker is a Professor at the School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany. He has published numerous scholarly articles on subjects including capital punishment, criminal procedure, criminal law, and juvenile justice. He is co-author or co-editor of four books, including James R. Acker and David C. Brody, CRIMINAL PROCEDURE: A CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE (Aspen Publishing Co. 1999), and James R. Acker, Robert M. Bohm, and Charles S. Lanier (eds.), AMERICA'S EXPERIMENT WITH CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: REFLECTIONS ON THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF THE ULTIMATE PENAL SANCTION (Carolina Academic Press 1998).

Elizabeth B. Acker graduated from Albany High School in 2001, where she was class salutatorian. She presently is enrolled as an undergraduate student at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Although she is interested in law and the legal rights of young people, she has no present plans to apply to law school following her graduation from college.