Status:

Enacted

Youth Justice

Miranda Rights for Youth (2020)

SB 203 (Bradford)

Location

California

In 2017, California passed SB 395, a law that prohibits police from interrogating youth under age 16 until the youth has had a chance to talk with an attorney about their rights. SB 395 sunsets January 2025.

California's SB 203, passed in 2020, requires all youth under age 18 to consult with an attorney before waiving their constitutional rights during a custodial interrogation. Counsel must explain the Miranda rights to the youth and what it means to waive them. By ensuring youth understand their rights, we ensure the outcomes of these police interrogations are just and lawful, and create greater trust, accountability, and due process for all.

Don't miss our Miranda Rights Protection Guides

Our Success & Impact

Get up to date on our latest work - from litigation and policy wins to new reports, resources, events and more.

Success and Impact

MILPA Collective Makes Change In Its Community — With Proud Support From NCYL

NCYL's partnership with MILPA Collective, a California community-based nonprofit, is an example of its drive to support communities with the tools...

Success and Impact

California Enacts Historic Youth Justice Reforms; Closes Youth Prisons

Closes youth prisons, creates protections for sealing diversion records, ended excessive probation supervision for youth not charged with a crime, and...

Related Initiatives

Create a Youth Justice System That Supports Development and Opportunity

NCYL develops, passes, and implements policies and practices that divert young people away from punitive systems and toward supportive, community-based solutions.

End The School To Prison Pipeline

Schools nationwide use harsh punishments that push students - especially Black and Brown students - into what is known as the school-to-prison pipeline. NCYL uses many strategies to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and create positive school environments that meet students’ academic, social and

Related Resources

SB 203 graphic showing process of youth interrogation

Miranda Rights - Protection Guides for Youth and Professionals

Guides to help youth, law enforcement, and school staff understand the rights youth have during police interrogations to ensure outcomes are just and...

Related Cases

D.P. v. School Board of Palm Beach County

Police employed by the School District of Palm Beach County illegally use the Florida Mental Health Act, also known as the Baker Act, to subject hundreds of students each year to involuntary psychiatric examinations, without their parents' input, consent and, sometimes, over their objections.

Freeman v. County of Riverside

This lawsuit alleges Riverside County of illegally collecting juvenile administrative fees.

Sigma Beta XI v. County of Riverside

This lawsuit alleges that Riverside County, California, through its Probation office, targets, ensnares, and discriminates against children by stripping them of their constitutional rights.

Related Laws & Policy

See All Laws & Policy

End School-Based Ticketing (2024)

HB 3413 (Ford)

Ending the unjust practice of referring students to be ticketed for an incident that can be pursued through the school district’s discipline policy

Justice for Survivors (2024)

AB 2354 (Bonta)

AB 2354 is a crucial bill in California aimed at ensuring that all survivors of intimate partner violence, human trafficking, and other forms of violence can petition the court for vacatur relief,

Justice for Survivors (2023)

AB 1497 (Haney)

Creating meaningful pathways to justice for survivors of trauma, domestic violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking who are funneled into our criminal legal system is important for their healing and care, and to stop the further criminalization of victims. Often survivors of survivors of