Gerald Gault, a fifteen-year-old juvenile, was arrested by the Gila County Sheriff’s Department in June of 1964 (Pedzich, 2011). Gault was arrested on suspicion of making inappropriate and offensive calls to a neighbor Ora Cook (Facts and Case Summary – In re Gault, n.d.). During his police interview, Gerald claimed it was actually his friend Ronald Lewis that made the calls to his neighbor. He stated he heard his friend using abusive language to someone on the phone while he was preparing for work, took the phone from him, hung the call up and kicked his friend out of the house. His parents were never notified that he was taken into custody until after his mother arrived home and noticed that he was missing. Gerald’s mother was eventually …show more content…
The morning after his arrest, Judge McGhee presided over Gault’s preliminary hearing with no decision and ordering the juvenile to remain in custody until a decision was made (Ross, 2012). At his release, Gerald’s mother received her only notification that a hearing had been scheduled to further discuss his delinquency. Gerald’s accuser, Ora Cook, was not present for either of the hearings, no witnesses were sworn in and no transcript of the proceedings was made. Judge McGhee determined that Gault was indeed a delinquent minor guilty of lewd conduct and was remanded into confinement at the State Industrial School until he reached the age of twenty-one unless his sentence was shortened through legal proceedings (“Facts and case summary - in re Gault,” 1963). If an adult offender had been found guilty of the same offense, they would receive a maximum two months in prison along with a minimal fine. In response to his sentencing, Gerald’s parents refuted the claims from Judge McGee that the juvenile had admitted in court that he had committed the offense he was charged with. His parents petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court for their son’s release based on a writ of habeas corpus (Ross, 2012). The case was referred back to Judge McGhee for a hearing where he was questioned concerning