Welcome to the Weekend Readers! This week OJD was busy with meetings and discussions while also planning some new material to share with you all. We’d love to hear some of your thoughts, needs and wants to better assist you in your day to day work in Juvenile Justice. No idea is a bad one and you can contact anyone in the office!
TIP OF THE WEEK
When Should I Receive the Disposition Report?
You should try to receive the disposition report prior to the dispositional hearing to review with your client. If possible, try to get a copy of the report at least several days prior to the hearing. While there is no statutory authority compelling the receipt from the intake counselor, there are local rules which suggest time periods.
Congratulations OJD!
With the completion of our OJJDP Grant that wrapped up March 31, 2021, OJD was able to produce multiple CLE trainings for our Defenders (while covering attendance costs), have a brand new website (coming soon), and created SEVEN Quick Guides for readily accessible facts & tips while in court (which were either hand delivered or mailed throughout the year). All of this would not have been possible without our AWESOME Project Attorney Austine Long. Austine has worked extremely hard to reshape how our grant would succeed during the unexpected change of pace when the office and our plans to travel, shut down due to Covid. She revamped our CLE curriculum and never stopped making sure we hit the mark. So thank you Austine, for everything you did and do for OJD!
Raise the MINIMUM Age
On March 25, 2021, the N.C. Senate passed a bill to raise the minimum age a youth can be petitioned for a crime. The age increase would move from the lowest in the United States at 6 years of age, to 10. One of the main highlights of Senate Bill 207 is that it sets up a child consultation process which would enforce that these youth that are referred to the justice system and are under 10 will need to meet with a court counselor to assess the appropriate resources that can assist with keeping the youth out of the court process. This aim is to ensure that the mental capacity of youth and the desire to keep children out of the system and help discover latent issues. Now that the Senate has passed the legislation, it is on it’s way to the House for further consideration before going to the Governor’s hands. If the bill is passed, it will go into effect on Dec. 1. What are your thoughts on this newly introduced / pending Bill?
JLWOP
Josh Rovner has written a great piece via the Sentencing Project regarding Juvenile LWOP. This brief report is filled with statistics, landmark cases and thoughts surrounding the end of JLWOP in the United States. To read this brief and learn more about the JLWOP reform requests, please click here.