Wounded Reno Judge Holds News Conference

Washoe County District Court Judge Chuck Weller and his assistant met with the press on June 27 to talk about his shooting in chambers at the Washoe County Courthouse on June 12. His assistant, who was also in the judge’s chambers at the time, received multiple shrapnel wounds in the shooting. Judge Weller spoke about his concern for his family in the moments immediately following the shooting and about his concern for the safety of judicial officers across the country.

Click here to see Good Morning America video interview with Judge Weller.

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Child Refugees Experience Treatment Worse Than Adults

A two-year study of U.S. immigration laws and agencies finds that unaccompanied children fleeing to the United States to escape persecution often meet a harsh, hostile reception, according to a new Harvard University study. According to the report, about 8.000 children sought sanctuary in the United States in 2003, arriving with no family or adult guardian. Many had no legal counsel and were vulnerable to exploitation. The report urges U.S. authorities to recognize legitimate claims by child asylum-seekers and to conduct more thorough investigations.

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Reno District Court Judge Wounded in Chambers

Reno is a pretty small western city. Monday’s shooting of District Court Judge Chuck Weller ripped through our community, leaving behind worried citizens concerned about courtroom and judge security and the volatility of hostile divorces. Judge Weller, who only last week attended our class for judges who hear child abuse and neglect cases at our headquarters here in Reno, is a member of NCJFCJ. We are pleased to hear that he is making good progress and wish him and his family well.

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Judges Are Satisfied with CASA Volunteers

The National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (CASA) surveyed judges who hear dependency cases about their view on the role played by CASA and guardian ad litem (GAL) volunteers in supporting judicial decision-making and court processes. From the survey:

• Judges are most likely to assign CASA volunteers their most difficult and complex cases.
  
• When assigning a case to a volunteer, judges particularly consider the instability of the child’s current placement, conflicting case information, concerns about implementation of services, and extreme neglect, physical abuse, or sexual abuse.
  
• Judges clearly value input from CASA/GAL volunteers in their court decisions. Vounteer input is most highly valued on issues related to placement stability and the permanence and safety of the children while in placement.
  
• Judges find CASA volunteers to be very effective in a wide range of activities that support court processes.

Click on the link above to read an article about the survey. "Evaluation of Court Appointed Special Advocates/Guardians ad Litem Volunteer Impact," and/or  to download a copy of this 37 page pdf file.

++++++++++Bronx Community Solutions

The Center for Court Innovation’s newest demonstration project, Bronx Community Solutions, brings a combination of punishment and help to all non-violent misdemeanor cases in the Bronx central Courthouse. All judges will have broad set of sentencing options at their disposal, including drug treatment, job training, family services and mental health counseling. Offenders will be assigned to community service work. At this web site:

• A blog, “Changing the Court,” about the experiences of court staff in this new program, and
  
• A report, “Applying Problem-Solving Principles in Mainstream Courts: Lessons for State Courts.”  18 page pdf file. From The Juvenile Justice System Journal Vol. 26, No. 1, 2005

++++++++++Court Web Sites

You might want to make this page one of your Favorites. NCSC provides judicial branch links for each state as well as federal and tribal court web sites, court related organizations, law libraries and law schools, and other information of interest to the field.

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Adolescent Privacy Rights

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that health care providers and others are not required to report all underage sexual activity between consenting youths as sexual abuse. The case arose as the result of Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline’s interpretation of the state’s 1982 mandatory reporting law in which he said doctors, nurses, counselors, teachers and others were required to tell authorities about consensual sex by underage youths. The age of consent in Kansas is 16

New Parental Responsibility Ordinance

In Maple Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, parents could face misdemeanor convictions and pay up to $3,000 in restitution if their children are changed with a crime. The new ordinance was adopted this month in response to frequent complaints of disruptive teens congregating, violating curfew, or vandalizing.

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Clark v. Arizona

On Wednesday (April 19, 2006) the Supreme Court took up the case and the issue of just how difficult states can make it for criminal defendants to prove insanity. Eric Clark was a 17-year-old high school senior when he shot and killed a Flagstaff, Arizona policeman. He had been a popular, gifted athlete when he began the descent into behavior later diagnosed as schizophrenia.

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Hmong Culture Clashes with US Laws

A traditional Hmong wedding in Colorado has produced a cultural and legal conflict. When the 26-year-old groom married a 13-year-old bride the Hmong community looked on in approval. The State of Colorado sees things differently. Andres Xiong, the groom, is facing two counts of sexual assault and abuse on a child in connection with the marriage.

Using Non-Judicial Court Staff to Help Achieve Permanency for Children

The ABA Center on Children and the Law studied responsibilities of non-judicial court staff in several courts around the country, a group often overlooked even though they can have a significant impact on the court’s ability to achieve permanency for children. This online article combines a three-pat series. The first section discusses innovate docketing practices. The second summarizes additional activities reported to help achieve permanency in a timely and efficient manger and the third addresses the pre-appointment of counsel as a means to further improvements. This report prints out at nine pages.

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Indiana: An Assessment of Access to Counsel & Quality of Representation in Delinquency Proceedings

The National Juvenile Defender Center and the Central Juvenile Defender Center today released this report that found that Indiana’s system for ensuring constitutionally required defense services for children in the juvenile justice system is seriously flawed. The report says that nearly half of the 26,000 youths in juvenile cases are not represented by counsel, with the rate as high as 80 percent in some counties. Among the report’s recommendations:

• State laws should prohibit children from waiving counsel or, at least, require children to consult with counsel before doing so.
  
• Juvenile courts should ensure that judges thoroughly inform and education children about their rights, that no child goes unrepresented at any critical state of proceedings and that indigent counsel be independent of the judiciary.
  
• Caseloads and resources at the county level should be manageable enough to allow defenders to properly investigate and prepare cases from arrest through appeal.
  
• Attorneys representing children in the juvenile justice system should have adequate physical resources, litigation support services and access to experts.

The full report, an 83 page pdf file is downloadable from the National Juvenile Defender Center web site at the link above.

Read an article from The Indianapolis Star about the report.

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Court Security

Court Security Remains a Serious Concern for the Judiciary

The Judicial Conference of the United States, which sets policy for the federal courts, approved security measures this week. The conference authorized security equipment and worker for federal probation and pretrial services offices, urged added training for judges’ security guards and called for the Bureau of prisons to screen all outgoing mail to judges and courts from federal prison inmates.

Judge Ginsburg Acknowledges Death Threat

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has acknowledged a specific death threat against her and her retired colleague Sandra Day O’Connor and blames lawmakers for fueling “the irrational fringe.”

The Future of Court Security and Judicial Safety

Courts are looking for new ways to improve the security of their facilities and will also address new security issues, such as the desire of some judges to carry guns in the courthouse.

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State Statutes 2005 – Determining the Best Interests of the Child

NCCAN provides information about best interests criteria and standards in all the states and territories in this online document.

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