Recent news

On December 10, 2012, the Court adopted new Rules of Appellate Procedure that provide for quick review of out-of-home placement in delinquency matters. Because juveniles often complete their time in placement in less time than it typically takes to process an appeal from an adjudication, new Rule 1770 provides an immediate mechanism for juveniles who are adjudicated delinquent to have their out-of-home placement reviewed by the appellate court prior to formal appellate review of the adjudication or other matters. 

Juvenile Law Center’s Bob Schwartz, Marsha Levick and Lourdes Rosado recently played leadership roles at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change conference in Washington, DC, participating as moderators and panelists to help further juvenile justice reform in the United States.

On Wednesday, November 28, Juvenile Law Center will present an event in partnership with the Free Library of Philadelphia featuring author William Ecenbarger. Ecenbarger, a former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Three Mile Island disaster and a George L. Polk Award for his coverage of corruption in the Pennsylvania legislature. Ecenbarger will discuss his new book Kids for Cash: Two Judges, Thousands of Children, and a $2.8 Million Kickback Scheme (New Press). 

Kids for Cash tells the story of the Luzerne County judicial corruption scandal, which Juvenile Law Center helped uncover in 2007 following a call from an alarmed parent that prompted us to investigate irregularities in Luzerne County's juvenile court.

photo via :Dar.

Pennsylvania this month missed an opportunity to transform the harshest sentencing scheme in the world into one that is fair, proportional, and consistent with the latest knowledge of adolescent development.

On June 25, 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Miller v. Alabama, the third in a series of recent landmark opinions regarding the sentencing of youth in the criminal justice system. Each of these decisions recognized that youth under the age of 18 should not be treated the same as adults, and that harsh sentencing laws that fail to take account of the distinct attributes of children and youth will fail to pass constitutional muster. Children are not simply smaller versions of adults and are not as culpable for their actions. In Miller, the Court found mandatory life without parole sentences to be unconstitutional for youth convicted of murder committed when they were under the age of 18. Pennsylvania leads the nation and the world in this area, with over five hundred juveniles sentenced to mandatory life without parole following conviction of either first or second degree murder.

A new law that criminalizes any sharing of sexually suggestive photos between teens is awaiting the signature of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett—even if the sharing is a consensual, private act between two individuals.

HB 815 claims to protect teens from possible exploitation by authorizing the arrest, humiliation, and saddling of children with a criminal record, as well as needlessly costing families thousands in unwarranted legal fees. District attorneys will now have the power to prosecute any teen who sends or receives a nude or partially nude photo of themselves or another teen, even when it is consensual and even though it is merely the 21^st century version of the 20th century Polaroid.

[image via Michael Kappel on Flickr]

Since 1917, the first Monday in October has been the official opening day of the annual term of the United States Supreme Court. For the first time in many years, there are no cases currently set for review that raise large questions about children’s status under the Constitution. So … it seems like a good time to pause and reflect on how children and youth have fared in recent years.

As it turns out, quite well. As longtime advocates for children’s rights, we at Juvenile Law Center see much to celebrate. And, because we have a long view, we also see trends and swings in how the Court has addressed children under various provisions of the Constitution. We will focus on a survey of recent key developments under the Fourth, Fifth and Eighth Amendments.

The Illinois Supreme Court issued a strongly worded endorsement this week for zealous lawyering for kids—the same kind of zealous lawyering that adults routinely expect for themselves. In In re Austin M., Austin M. successfully appealed his delinquency adjudication, convincing a majority of the Illinois Supreme Court that a lawyer cannot simultaneously assert and defend his juvenile client's innocence and also claim to be seeking the truth "the same as the court and the same as the prosecutor." Characterizing this dual mission as "hybrid representation," the Court held that a lawyer cannot serve as both defense counsel and a guardian ad litem on behalf of a child charged with delinquency.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed House Bill 75 this week, improving the chances for success for foster youth who are making the transition to independence and adulthood. The new law—which Juvenile Law Center worked closely with Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children to promote (read our joint white paper, "Maximizing 'Fostering Connections' to Benefit Pennsylvania Youth," here)—will bring more federal dollars to Pennsylvania and provide additional supports to older foster youth. These youth face tremendous barriers to making it on their own as adults, but the new law will enable more foster youth to remain in care past age 18 and enable county children and youth agencies to provide expanded support and guidance for them.

In another landmark ruling involving juveniles sentenced in the adult criminal justice system, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Miller v. Alabama that states may no longer mandate life without parole sentences for juveniles convicted of homicide offenses. The Court reversed the decisions of the Alabama and Arkansas Supreme Courts, which had upheld the imposition of these sentences on Evan Miller and Kuntrell Jackson, both 14 at the time of their offenses. The Court’s ruling applies to all juveniles convicted of homicide who are or were under the age of 18 at the time of their offenses—providing a glimmer of hope to over 2,000 men and women who had previously been sentenced to die in prison.

Photo by SVLumagraphica/Photos.com

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently celebrated the publication of the United Nations Economic and Social Council's adoption of the First International Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems. DOJ praised the Guidelines, calling them "a significant milestone in the global development of fair and just systems of criminal justice."

Notably, the Guidelines emphasize the special vulnerability of children in conflict with the law. (In the United States, these are children who are arrested.) The Guidelines single children out as a group entitled to special measures and additional protections. In doing so, the new Guidelines not only recognize that "children should have access to legal aid under the same conditions or more lenient conditions as adults," but they also reaffirm many of the goals toward which Juvenile Law Center strives on behalf of children in the criminal and juvenile justice systems.