In re Trent R.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Bruce M. Kaplan, J.

With the enactment of article 3 of the Family Court Act the Legislature attempted to codify those specific due process standards that accreted to juvenile delinquency proceedings over the last two decades. This epoch commenced with the Supreme Court’s decision in Matter of Gault (387 US 1) ending the 30-year interregnum of the parens patriae philosophy exemplified in People v Lewis (260 NY 171).

Article 3’s recent effective date invites early judicial construction of its provisions even though many of them track the language of the Criminal Procedure Law.

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