QUESTION:

My daughter was arrested for underage drinking and a curfew violation, but her rights were never read to her. She was handcuffed, fingerprinted and given a breath test, which she failed. Does she have any legal rights when she faces the judge?

ANSWER:

In most states, underage drinking and curfew violations are classified as status offenses. That means that if an adult committed these acts they would not be considered illegal, but they are strictly verboten for whippersnappers. Sounds like your daughter committed a status offense. In the eyes of the law, minors who are accused of status offenses are entitled to some, but not all, of the protections given to adult criminal defendants.

The police are generally allowed to take a minor into custody if they have reasonable cause to believe the minor needs supervision, has violated a court order, or is in public and appears to need medical attention. It's a permissible formality to fingerprint a minor who has been taken in this way.

But the fact that your daughter's rights -- commonly referred to as Miranda Warnings -- were never read to her may be a problem for the prosecution. In some states, status offenders may not be forced to incriminate themselves and must have the Miranda warnings read to them before the police can question them. But this is often true only if the minor faces the possibility of detention. You'll have to check your own state law using Nolo's online legal Statutes and Cases.

If your state law protects status offenders in this way, then any damaging statements your daughter gave to the police -- and any evidence the police uncovered as a result of those statements -- may not be considered by the juvenile court judge who decides her case.

Learn more about Search, Seizure, and Interrogations.

Reprinted with permission from the publisher, Nolo, Copyright 2008, http://www.nolo.com/