Prof. Feld Cited and Summarized in Posner's 7th Circuit Dissent

A dissent by Judge Richard Posner in Welch v. United States,2010 WL 1755062, cited and summarized arguments by Professor Barry Feld,“The Constitutional Tension Between Apprendi and McKeiver: Sentence Enhancements Based on Delinquency Convictions and the Quality of Justice in Juvenile Courts,” 38 Wake Forest L.Rev. 1111(2003). The 7th Circuit panel in Welch considered the constitutionality of using juvenile delinquency prior convictions to enhance adult criminal sentences. Judge Posner relied on Feld's arguments that the quality of procedural justice in juvenile courts--inadequate legal representation and denial of a right to a jury trial--made reliance on such convictions for sentence enhancement constitutionally suspect. Posner, as did Feld, invited the United States Supreme Court to address the constitutional question and resolve a split among the circuit courts on this issue.