Juveniles

Police Reports in Juvenile Cases

May 19, 2011 Juveniles

One of the major differences I have found between representing a juvenile and representing an adult is that, in juvenile cases, there is usually a much greater similarity between what you read in the police report and what the client tells you.  

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The Youth Rehabilitation Act in D.C.

February 19, 2011 Criminal Procedure

A number of people have asked me recently about the Youth Rehabilitation Act (YRA) in D.C., which gives the court greater flexibility when sentencing a person who was under the age of 22 at the time of conviction. Enacted in 1985, the purpose of the YRA is to “separate youth offenders from more mature, experienced [...]

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On The Terminology and Fiction of Juvenile Justice

January 21, 2011 Juveniles

As a public defender in Philadelphia, I did a brief stint in the Juvenile Division representing young people accused of committing a crime. People told me before I started the rotation that I would either love working with juveniles or hate it; there didn’t seem to be any in-between. I found myself in the “love-it” [...]

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Juvenile Court Forever

March 26, 2010 Juveniles

You are sitting with your client in the basement of the Family Court building. The two of you are in a little cubicle set off from the main room by some makeshift walls. The door is warped and won’t close properly, and your client is distracted by the other kids in their ill-fitting jumpsuits, milling [...]

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Overcrowding at D.C. Juvenile Detention Center

January 21, 2010 Juveniles

The Washington Post reported this morning on extensive overcrowding at Washington, D.C.’s youth detention center on Mount Olivet Road.  According to the Post, as many as 156 juveniles have been crammed into a facility designed to house no more than 88:  “The surge in detainees has strained space and staff . . . and has [...]

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