DeBacker v. Brainard

Background

DeBacker, a 17-year-old, was found a “delinquent child” after a juvenile hearing and committed to the Boys’ Training School at Kearney, Nebraska. He was charged based on a forged check and could be held until age 21. Instead of a direct appeal, he sought state habeas relief. The Nebraska District Court dismissed his petition, and a divided Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed. The U.S. Supreme Court had noted probable jurisdiction before dismissing the appeal.

Reasoning

The Court was asked to decide three constitutional questions in plain terms: whether a juvenile must have a jury trial when the same act would entitle an adult to one; whether the usual juvenile standard of proof (preponderance of the evidence) satisfies due process; and whether a prosecutor’s choice to use juvenile rather than adult court is reviewable. The Court declined to decide these questions. It explained the juvenile hearing occurred before the Duncan and Bloom decisions, counsel had not objected to the proof standard and conceded the evidence was sufficient, and the record was too sparse on the prosecutor-discretion claim.

Real world impact

Because the Court dismissed the appeal instead of ruling on the merits, Nebraska’s rules requiring judge-only juvenile hearings and a preponderance standard remain undisturbed in this case. The decision is not a final national ruling on these issues and could be revisited in future cases with proper timing and a fuller record. Four Nebraska justices thought the statutes unconstitutional, but the state constitution required five to strike them down.

Dissents or concurrances

Justices Black and Douglas dissented. They would have reached the merits and argued that the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments require a jury when the alleged delinquent act is an adult crime triable by jury, and they criticized the Court’s prospective-only approach.