Hundreds of Luzerne County Youth Denied Lawyers in Juvenile Court

Last Updated: December 22, 2008

Philadelphia, PA (December 22, 2008) – Attorneys at Juvenile Law Center, a Philadelphia-based public interest law firm, will file a motion tomorrow in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court renewing their request for immediate relief on behalf of hundreds of Luzerne County youth who have been the subjects of delinquency hearings without lawyers.

In April, Juvenile Law Center filed an application for extraordinary relief. Briefing was completed in early June but the Supreme Court has yet to issue a decision.

State records, statements from adjudicated youth, and transcripts of Juvenile Court proceedings all confirm that since October 1, 2005, hundreds of youth in Luzerne County appeared without counsel during the most critical phases of delinquency proceedings as a consequence of unlawful waivers of counsel, resulting in unconstitutional admissions of guilt, delinquency adjudications, and out-of-home placements.

Luzerne County has one of the highest out-of-home placement rates in the state. The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare emphasized that fact when it filed a brief supporting Supreme Court review. “That dramatic differential suggests many of the Luzerne County out-of-home placements were inappropriate and therefore harmful,” wrote the Department. “And there can be no serious question that the rate of such placements would have been significantly lower if more juveniles had been represented by counsel.”

State Attorney General Tom Corbett also filed a brief supporting Supreme Court review. Corbett’s brief says the evidence raises “serious questions about the fairness and integrity” of juvenile court proceedings in Luzerne County. Denying accused youth their right to counsel and their right against self-incrimination are the types of procedural shortcuts that “erode public confidence in law enforcement and the juvenile justice system.”

“As a result of our lawsuit some proceedings and practices in Luzerne County have changed. Accused youth reportedly now receive defense counsel,” says Marsha Levick, Legal Director at Juvenile Law Center. “However, today’s filing shows that this case is not moot, and that hundreds of past violations have not been remedied.”

Juvenile Law Center argues that hundreds of youth have claims that have yet to be heard. Some members of the affected class may still be in the custody of Luzerne County Juvenile Court or on probation. Moreover, loss of liberty is not the only injury. Juvenile records have significant consequences: they follow youths into adulthood, creating barriers to education or employment and affect their ability to grow into productive members of society. Delinquency adjudications obtained through unconstitutional means subject scores of children to these consequences unnecessarily.

“The juvenile court’s disregard of the Constitution and Pennsylvania Law was staggering,” says Laval Miller-Wilson, Senior Attorney at Juvenile Law Center. “We are asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to take immediate action: declare that the delinquency procedures in Luzerne County lacked basic constitutional safeguards, order the Luzerne Juvenile Court to identify all youth adjudicated delinquent without legal representation, release the youth who remain in custody or supervision as a result of these violations, and destroy adjudication records of youth denied lawyers.”

In addition to briefs from the Pennsylvania Attorney General and the Department of Public Welfare urging the Supreme Court to take jurisdiction, leading Northeast Pennsylvania newspapers (e.g., Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Citizen’s Voice) published editorials supporting the same.

Juvenile Law Center is a national, non-profit, public interest law firm that advances and protects the rights and well-being of children in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Juvenile Law Center is a resource for other legal advocacy groups across the nation and is one of eight organizations around the world to receive the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Creative and Effective Institutions Award. For more information contact Marsha Levick at (215) 625-0551.