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Writer's pictureNC OJD
Aug 10, 20184 min read

OJD Week in Review: Aug. 6 – 10

Welcome back, everyone!  This week there are some great new stories to share from our site and around the Web.

From Around the Community

First, from the On the Civil Side blog, Austine Long discusses youth development centers (YDCs).  In her post, Long emphasizes the use of YDCs and the need for juvenile justice advocates to familiarize themselves with the facilities and requirements of committed youth.  Long also encourages attorneys to attend trainings about YDCs, including the annual Juvenile Defender Conference.  You can check out the full post here.

Dilemma of Duties

Earlier this week, our office had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Anne Corbin about her book, Dilemma of Duties: The Conflicted Role of Juvenile Defenders.  Through interviews with many juvenile defense attorneys across North Carlina, Corbin examines the role of juvenile defenders and the internal and external pressures experienced by defenders to divert from expressed-interest advocacy to best-interest advocacy.  We recorded the discussion for our next podcast, which we hope to share in the very near future, but in the meantime check out the book for yourselves!

Speaking of books, from the Sentencing Law and Policy blog, author Cara Drinan wrote a four-part series to discuss her book The War on Kids: How American Juvenile Justice Lost Its Way.  In her first post, Drinan addresses the question of how the U.S. became an international outlier in the severity of its juvenile justice practices, touching on the origins of the juvenile court system and drawing the line to the failures of the system today.  Her later posts also cover what the war on kids looks like, three Supreme Court cases that have significantly impacted the juvenile justice system, and post-Miller parole.  Drinan concluded the series of posts earlier this week, so be sure to read all four blog posts and check out the book!  You can read the beginning of her series here.  Shout-out to David Andrews for bringing these blogs to our attention!

Finally, if you haven’t already seen it, please take a moment to read our feature on Cindy Ellis, the new contract juvenile defender of Davie County.  Read the full post here.

Cindy Ellis pic

Training

Registration is now open for the 2018 Misdemeanor Defender Training, which will take place at the UNC-Chapel Hill campus from Sept. 18 – 21.  This training, cosponsored by the Office of Indigent Defense Services and the School of Government, will be an introductory program for attorneys who are new to handling misdemeanor cases and will offer 21.5 CLE credit hours, including one hour of ethics/professional responsibility credit and qualifies for criminal law specialization credit.  Attendees can expect sessions that will cover topics such as impaired driving, probation violations, ethical issues in district court, and much more.  The registration deadline will be 5 p.m. on Aug. 30 and the deadline for the hotel block will be Aug. 28.  There will be no onsite registration.  The fee for privately assigned counsel will be $560, but the program will be free for IDS state employees.  There is a new online registration system being used that will require first-time users to create an account, but if any issues should arise, please contact registration@sog.unc.edu/919.966.4414 or check the FAQ page.  For further questions contact either Tanya Jisa or Phil Dixon,Jr.

Save the Date!  The Bridging The Gap III Seminar will be in Winston-Salem September 20-21, 2018.  Participants in this seminar will be awarded 10.25 CLE credit hours, including 1.5 credit hours in ethics, professional responsibility and professionalism.  The registration fee is $115.00.  The focus of this seminar will be on client and family relations, and pretrial resolution.  Registration and hotel information will be published in early July.  A block of 40 rooms will be available once the registration is published.  For an attorney to attend he or she must have at least 7 years’ experience.  The “ gap” in Bridging The Gap describes lawyers who have never taken murder cases and are considering taking them on, and lawyers who have taken non-capital murder cases and are considering taking capital cases.  The seminar, hosted by the Office of the Capital Defender, focuses on issues relevant to both non-capital and capital murder cases.  If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Terry Alford.

Job /Funding Opportunity

The National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) is currently seeking a research manager.  The ideal candidate will have at least 5 years of experience, a commitment to advancing improvements in juvenile defense policy and practice, a love of research, writing, and critical thinking, and an eagerness to build a career at the intersection of youth justice and social change.  The selected candidate will be responsible for developing and executing research efforts to advance NJDC’s mission, and strengthening the empirical qualities and evaluating the impact of NJDC’s work on the community.  This position will remain open until filled.  For more information please check here.

The Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) in Massachusetts is currently accepting applications for a Deputy Chief Counsel of the Private Counsel Division, who is a member of the senior management team that develops and implements fiscal, operational, human resource, and legislative policies.  The Private Counsel Division is responsible for delivering legal services to indigent clients through assigned private attorneys in criminal defense trial and post-conviction cases as well as commitment and registration cases for persons convicted of sex offenses.  Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.  For more info please check here.


That sums it up for this week!  The near-future for news in the juvenile defense community is looking good, so check back soon!

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