American Bar Association
Juvenile Justice Committee
Meeting Minutes
February 8, 2014
12:00pm – 2:00pm CST
Swissotel
Lugano Room, 2nd floor
323 E. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
Attendees: Terry Brennen and Jill-Ellyn Straus (co-chairs), Lara Edmunds, William Haeberle, Lourdes Rosado (Cochair, ABA Children’s Rights Litigation Committee; ), Elizabeth Clarke (President, Juvenile Justice Iniative, Chicago, IL), Cathy Krebs (Director, Children’s Rights Litigation Committee), Regina Ashmon, Linda Britton, Don Merrell, Howard Davidson, Hon. Ernesting Gray, Michael Pope, LaKeisha Randall, Robert Schwartz, Lawrence Wojcik. Note: the hotel conference phone malfunctioned and phone participants were unable to join the meeting.
- Update on Policy and Standards
a) Policy: Juvenile Appeals Resolution passed CJS Council in November; this will be presented to the ABA House of Delegates after our JJC meeting (Note: after our meeting, the ABA House of Delegates approved the policy, see http://www.americanbar.org/news/2014-mym-reporter-resources/2014-mym-hod-resolutions/103a.html)
b) Standards
1. Standards Committee meeting in January: Judge Gray and Robert Schwartz updated the Committee on the proposed Standards addressing Crossover, Dual-Jurisdiction, and Multi-System Youth. Both indicated a positive response from CJS Standards at their January meeting, and that the process of approving such proposals take time -- the goal is for September approval by CJS Standards Committee.
2. Next steps on any updates to JJ Standards: co-chair Brennen indicated that
3. Article for Summer CJS Magazine (Merrill Sobie and Jay Elliot). NOTE: Jan Fink, Merrill Sobie and Jay Elliot were unable to join the meeting by phone due to a technical problem with the hotel conference phone system. Jan Fink indicated that the article for Summer CJS magazine is still in progress. Terry Brennen invited all three (via email) to provide input into the next item to Lourdes Rosado.
4. Model Act on Sealing/Expungement of Juvenile Records (Lourdes Rosado, Juv. Law Center, Phila.) The Committee provided input into the Model Act. Further input is welcomed; contact Lourdes Rosado / Cathy Krebs.
- Programming / CLE
a) Midyear Program (Chicago): “The Post Miller v. Alabama World – Redefining Juvenile Justice and Life Without Parole” was the latest in a series of JJC panels focusing on the implications of Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs. As in the prior panels dealing with JLWOP, the panel covered many sides of the issue and initiated thought-provoking panel views and Q&A, that enhanced the analysis of Eighth Amendment juvenile jurisprudence.
b) Spring Programs (Washington): Part of “Bridging the Systems: Stakeholders Working Together to Fight Child Abuse & Trafficking” all day Friday May 2, 2014
1. AM: Effective Communication with Child Victims & Preventing Revictimization
2. PM: Ethical Obligations in Dealing with Child Victims; Collateral Consequences for Youth Defendants
The recent conference call was recapped for the Committee what the program will focus on. Another conference call should follow to further develop the time slots and topics to be discussed by the above panels.
c) Annual Meeting Programs (Boston): Collaboration with Litigation Section/Children’s Rights Committee at Town Halls at Midyear (“School to Prison Pipeline”) and Annual Meeting (“Implicit Bias”); CLE/Program: “Can there be “Judgment by One's Own Peers” in the Juvenile Justice System?”
Discussion by the committee indicated that the topic of juvenile justice and jury rights involves many issues and likely the topic would best be divided along the lines of 1) peer justice through informal “teen courts”, the topic of the Annual Meeting CLE(above); 2) the right to a jury trial for juveniles in juvenile court and criminal courts, to be developed for future CLE (for a date after the Annual Meeting); and 3) whether juvenile participation as jurors in juvenile and criminal cases is worth more discussion (not fully discussed by the Committee at this meeting).
- New Business: The Committee discussed CLE and/or policy focusing on judicial communication and children. A conference call and inquiry to CJS standards will follow.
The Committee discussed how to have future panels and CLE programs recorded, since the panels and programs are a window on specific juvenile justice topics with experts assembled on a one-time basis.
- Adjournment