In Re William M.

Opinion

TOBRINER, J.

This case raises the basic issue of whether a juvenile court may refuse to consider specific facts supporting the release of a juvenile prior to a jurisdictional hearing and, instead, establish a rule that all juveniles accused of a specified type of offense should automatically be detained. We give the reasons why we have concluded that the Juvenile Court Law protects the minor’s right to an individualized detention hearing, in which the court may not dispose of cases by mechanical rules on a categorical basis.

1. The facts

On March 17, 1970, the supervising probation…