| ME - NEJDC RELEASES ASSESSMENT
OF MAINE JUVENILE DEFENDER SYSTEM
Augusta, Maine, October 22
The New England Juvenile Defender Center and the American Bar
Association released an assessment of the Maine juvenile defenders
which is funded by the Maine Juvenile Justice Advisory Group.
The assessment found uneveness in the quality of juvenile defense
throughout Maine, and a general inadequacy in the amount of state
support for juvenile defense work. The lack of state support was
most evident in the absence of a statewide backup center offering
support to juvenile defenders, the lack of standards required
to practice as a juvenile defender and no training.
The payment of attorneys was also an issue singled out in the
report as leading to mixed messages about how hard attorneys should
work on juveniles' cases. The report highlighted some structural
issues that the NEJDC urged should be reviewed by the executive
branch, the legislature, and the courts, including the lack of
a structured role for the courts and juvenile defenders once a
youth is in the custody of the Department of Corrections.
The Maine assessment is one of six assessments of juvenile defenders
systems released today nationwide at a national press conference
convened by the American Bar Association to draw attention to
the inadequacy of support for juvenile defense in this nation.
For more information, please click below
Troubled
Kids,Troubled Courts: A Call to New England’s Juvenile Court
Judges and State Policymakers
This report focuses on state levels of support for juvenile court
judges: the central players of the juvenile justice system. The
report exams five areas affecting juvenile court judges and offers
recommendations on reform including on how judicial appointments
are made; judges' caseload size; training and education of judges;
judicial retention policies; and judges' lack of familiarity with
the facilities to which they commit youth and the communities
in which youth live.
The report is most critical of states' financial and general
support of the juvenile justice systems and for restricting juvenile
court judges' ability to participate in advocacy for systemic
reform. However, the report also urges juvenile court judges to
take steps to increase their understanding of and involvement
in the facilities to which they commit youths.
The executive summary of the report, as well as the entire report
is available on line by clicking below.
note: both documents are in Adobe PDF format. If your computer
is unable to open them, go to www.adobe.com
and look in the support section for assistance.
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