What does the Juvenile Court System Experience Mean for Children?
The juvenile court system experience can be traumatic. That’s why is crucial to consider the humanization of work purpose.
7 Tips for Attorneys Who Won’t Follow Their Juvenile Case to Adult Criminal Court
If you’ve been appointed to represent a juvenile charged with an offense that will likely be transferred, but won’t be handling the case once it’s transferred to adult criminal court, how can you best prepare your client’s case for the next level?1. Locate and visit/contact your client: If your client is under 18 and in detention, they will be housed in a juvenile detention center. There are twelve juvenile detention centers spread out across the state. Make sure to have regular contact with you
Case Law Corner: Vol. 8
Can you believe that the last appellate decision for juvenile delinquency cases was back in December of 2022? I wrote about the three opinions in January and it had been quiet ever since… until now! Last month, the Court of Appeals issued an opinion on a Juvenile First-Degree Murder case originating in Buncombe County, and the NC Supreme Court issued its opinion for in re: J.U., for which I had written an earlier blog about the appellate defender’s office preparing for oral arguments. Here’s o
Week in Review: January 9-13
Happy Friday Readers! We hope you had a great holiday filled with rest, family, and good food. Trust us when we say, OJD is just getting back in the swing of things after our holiday too. This week, we have a great Ethics tip and a couple of resources to share. Let’s get to it. Tip of the Week: Keeping up with Social Media in Juvenile Proceedings“Rule 1.1 requires lawyers to provide competent representation to clients. Comment [8] to the rule specifically states that a lawyer ‘should keep abreas
From A Lawyer’s View: OJD Out In the Field – Coming Soon to a Courthouse Near You
In recent months, you may have seen staff from our office lurking in your courtrooms, wrangling attorneys to talk, and having secret conversations with other court stakeholders.What is going on? Is this a secret conspiracy??!!No, actually it’s just OJD business as usual. Well, what used to be usual before 2020. You see, we firmly believe that the only way to get to know what’s going on in delinquency court is to actually go to court to see what’s happening. In fact, since OJD started in 2005,
Week in Review: October 17-21
Happy Friday Everyone! It’s been a road trip kind of week for OJD. On the counties visited this week: Cabarrus, Henderson, and Sampson! We really love getting to see our defenders in court and have many more trips planned to support the great work everyone does. This week, we have a tip on Restraints in Juvenile Court Tip of the Week – Restraints in Juvenile CourtIn adult and juvenile proceedings, we frequently have clients who are confined pretrial. Those clients are often brought into courtro
Week In Review: September 19-23
Happy Friday and Hello Fall! This week OJD was able to take a beat and finish planning our Central Defender Forum in Asheboro. Are you a defense attorney looking to attend? Registration closes TODAY at 5PM! There’s no tip today but we do have a really fun video celebrating LaTobia’s 3 year anniversary! Let’s take a look: 6 Questions in (Not Really) 60 Seconds with LaTobia Avent, Communications & Office ManagerRegistration for our Central Youth Defender Forum ENDS TODAY! The Central Youth Defende
Week in Review: September 12-16
Happy Friday to everyone joining in on the blog this week. We have a great piece of information from Disability Rights North Carolina and a few housekeeping items to share, so let’s get started.TIP OF THE WEEK – Disability RightsThank you to everyone who able to attend our joint CLE, School Obligations for Youth with Disabilities with Disability Rights NC last week. We know that court and life gets busy and that some defenders were unable to join and wanted to provide you with some resources. Of
Week in Review: August 8-12
Happy Friday Readers! Have you ever wanted to contribute a juvenile tip to the blog or maybe have an entry for our "From a Lawyer’s View" series? Well, we’re always open to contributing writers! Interested? Email LaTobia at latobia.s.avent@nccourts.org. Tip of the WeekThis month, the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) released updated data and research bulletins that could be of interest to youth defenders. Last week, OJJDP published its updated Statistical Briefing Book
When Your Career Careens into Realty – A Juvenile Defender’s Thoughts This Father’s Day
Most of you know me as the state Juvenile Defender, but I also have two teenage daughters, a rising junior and a freshman respectively. Both have a pretty good understanding of my day job. I get questions like “what happens if I get stopped by the police” or “why didn’t that person go to jail”? And both have shown or displayed interest in what I do: my oldest is taking an advanced “Law and Justice” class next year (!) and my youngest doesn’t miss an opportunity to call out injustices she see