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1. Two separate juvenile justice stories this week from @Jodiscohen and @JamesQueallyLAT. Aside from the awful facts, it sheds some light on a major problem in juevneile court: The judges. Thread.
But first you gotta read the articles. https://www.propublica.org/article/a-teenager-didnt-do-her-online-schoolwork-so-a-judge-sent-her-to-juvenile-detention
But first you gotta read the articles. https://www.propublica.org/article/a-teenager-didnt-do-her-online-schoolwork-so-a-judge-sent-her-to-juvenile-detention
2. And here’s the other article you need to read. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-15/teenage-boy-was-given-estrogen-developed-breast-tissue-while-in-l-a-county-juvenile-hall-lawsuit-alleges
3. Even though these two stories happen in different places, Michigan and Los Angeles, the outsized power that judges have in juvenile cases is an issue. I can’t speak to Michigan laws. I can tell you that the problem in California is that kids have no right to a jury.
4. In California, the same judge who hears the kid’s arraignment and decides whether or not they’ll be detained is the same judge who hears the pretrial motions and determines whether the changes are sustained at trial. And then the kids are on probation to the same judge.
5. The same judge decides if the kid violated probation and should be in a more restrictive setting. The same judge decides if the kid’s record should be sealed. You get the idea.
6. Sure, the judge in adult criminal controls sentencing and probation issues, but the juvenile judges are hyper aware of the power differential and many, instead of respecting it and exercise restraint, use it to apply pressure. They usually think they’re helping the kid.
7. So a judge who orders a kid to be detained in juvenile hall for not doing her homework thinks they’re helping. The judge who threatens a kid with serious extended confinement time if there’s one bad report from juvenile hall thinks they’re helping.
8. What’s the answer? Well. Judges need to really be better trained and monitored on how they talk to the kids. Not get so embroiled. Not make it a power struggle. Not try to be a parent. Recognize these kids have likely been through horrendous trauma and operate accordingly.
9. Juvenile court judges need more training and eyes on them. More than any other bench officer in the California justice system. Allow members of the public in to juvenile proceedings to keep an eye on things. Yes, proceedings need to be confidential, but they can’t be secret.
