This week on Everyday Injustice, we have Kristina Kersey who last year joined The Gault Center (formerly NJDC) as a Senior Youth Defense Counsel in 2021. Prior to joining TGC, she specialized in youth defense for over 18 years with the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender.
Kersey was the trial attorney in State in the Interest of N.H., in which the Supreme Court held that youth are entitled to full and complete discovery prior to a waiver/transfer hearing to adult court.
We discussed why the move away from using the term “juvenile,” the importance of not trying youths in adult court, and the need for mental health and rehabilitative services—as well as her work on the case that would go to the NJ Supreme Court, and the protection that the ruling provides youths accused of serious crimes.
