Juveniles now have a right to a jury trial

The court in In re L.M. reversed a 24-year old precedent holding that juveniles are not entitled to a jury trial. The Kansas Supreme Court recognized that changes to the juvenile justice system have eroded the characteristics that traditionally distinguished the juvenile code from the adult criminal system. Because the Kansas juvenile justice system has become more akin to an adult criminal prosecution, juveniles now have a constitutional right to a jury trial under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.