debunking the myths: public accessibility of juvenile delinquency records monday, march 17th , ...
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Debunking the Myths: Public Accessibility of Juvenile Delinquency Records Monday, March 17th , 2014 | 1:00 PM Eastern Sponsored by the ABA Section of Litigation & Center for Professional Development. Speakers. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Debunking the Myths:Public Accessibility of Juvenile Delinquency RecordsMonday, March 17th, 2014 | 1:00 PM EasternSponsored by the ABA Section of Litigation & Center for Professional Development
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Speakers
• Brent Pattison, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Middleton Children’s Rights Center at Drake University Law School, Moderator [email protected]
• Riya Shah, Staff Attorney, Juvenile Law Center [email protected] • Kim Ambrose, Senior Lecturer and Director, Race and Justice Clinic,
University of Washington School of Law [email protected]
• Sharlyn Grace, VISTA Attorney, Children and Families Practice Group, LAF, Chicago [email protected]
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Juvenile Records – A Historical Perspective
1899 – First Juvenile Court
To spare juveniles from harsh proceedings of adult court, punitive and unseemly conditions of adult jails and penitentiaries, and the stigma of being branded “criminal”
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Juvenile Records – A Historical Perspective
1980s-90s - Criminalization
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Common Vocabulary
Limited Accessibility• Sealing• Setting aside
No Accessibility• Expungement• Destruction
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Why Records Exist
• Community protection• Track criminal behavior patterns• Provide for appropriate levels of supervision
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Why Expunge Records?
• Utility diminishes over time• Incorrect information in records• Fails to appreciate adolescence is transient• Collateral Consequences
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Subsequent court
involvement
Military
Education
Employment
Housing
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How do juvenile records affect people?*
May be asked to disclose a juvenile record for:• College applications• Job applications
May show up on background checks for:• Jobs and professional licenses (teaching, nursing, banking,
private security, other jobs [unlawfully])• Access to Public/Subsidized Housing• TANF benefits• Immigration/citizenship applications – discretionary factors
Police Harassment
*Impact varies by state law and status of record (sealed, expunged, etc.).
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Racial Disproportionality
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Racial Disproportionality
Consideration – Insufficient efforts to identify and develop permanency resources for youth
Strategy: Request specificity on record and in court order of agency’s Reasonable Efforts. Seek “No Reasonable Efforts” finding requiring the agency to continue to seek a more appropriate permanency plan
Consideration – Youth may wish to remain in foster care
Strategy: Work with youth to develop permanent connections. Engage “permanent connection” in youth’s transition process and foster care case.
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Where do Records Live?
Adjudication
Courthouse
Private companies
State and Local Law
Enforcement
FBI
Internet
Juvenile Prison System
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50 Different Systems
• Are juvenile court records stored in a different database from adult records?
• Are arrest records linked to juvenile court records?
• Are other agencies storing and/or releasing juvenile records?
• Are juvenile court records released to commercial data aggregators?
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Accessing Records
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Who Sees a Juvenile Record?
Law EnforcementCourts (if court record)Federal Government
– Military– Immigration officials
Potential Employers–Legally–Illegally
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Advocates for Public Juvenile Records
• Open Government Advocates: open courts=open records=accountability
• Newspapers/Media: want quick and inexpensive access to information
• Landlord Associations: want efficient filtering mechanism for tenants
• Prosecutors: Some prosecutors believe it is a deterrent, want to use it for future decision-making, believe public has a “right to know.”
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Sealing and Expungement Policies and Programs
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•AK: upon discharge from court supervision, all records of delinquency are sealed•DE: access to sealed records limited to law enforcement for purposes of identifying whether individual is eligible for “first-time offender” program
Automatic Sealing
•CA: after 5 years, court automatically orders expungement if no subsequent court involvement•MS: court expunges records of diverted cases at discharge
Automatic expungemen
t
•PA: Petition at any time after case discharged•IN: Both sides present evidence and court determines after a hearing
Expungement by
application
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Who Sees Records After Expungement?*
Court Officers (only if charged again)Law enforcement (only if applying as
employee)Federal Government
– Military– Immigration officials
No Other Employers
*Based on the Illinois juvenile expungement process.
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Reducing Barriers
• In Washington, 10 years of slow progress in the legislature. This year: HB 1651.
• Legislation vs. Court Rules vs. administrative policy. – Advocating for friendlier court rules – Advocating within the administrative office of
the courts on their policies regarding electronic distribution of juvenile records.
– Advocating for resources to public defenders for sealing records.
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JUDICIAL INFORMATION SYSTEM DATA DISSEMINATION POLICY
• (New) VI. LIMITATION ON DISSEMINATION OF JUVENILE OFFENDER COURT RECORDS
• The dissemination of juvenile offender court records maintained in the Judicial Information System shall be limited as follows:– 1. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall not electronically
transfer to a licensee by means of file transfer protocol any information from the official juvenile offender court file that is in a single data file that contains information from more than one file or more than one court except for research purposes as permitted by statute or court rule.
– 2. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall not display any information from an official juvenile offender court file on a publicly-accessible website that is a statewide index of court cases unless the entire official juvenile offender court file maintained in the judicial information is available on the website.
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•3 misdemeanors instead of 1 expunged per year•Eligibility when case closed 1 year instead of 5 years•1 felony expunged per year
Michigan
•Summary offenses expunged after 6 months rather than 5 years•Petition at any age with DA consent
Pennsylvania
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Positive Efforts
Illinois Efforts to Increase Juvenile Expungement Petitions:
1. Court-based Help Desk2. Outreach and Education3. Pro Bono Involvement
a. Expungement Clinics at Alternative High Schools: Bring the lawyers to the school!
b. Clerk’s summits4. Collaboration
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Common Misperceptions
Young people I talk to often think:–No “record” for mere arrests;–No “record” if not found guilty;–Juvenile records automatically disappear at age 18;
–No one can see juvenile records;–Serious offenses can’t be expunged; and–The expungement process is expensive.
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Collaboration:
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Collaboration and Peer Education: Expunge.io
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Collaboration and Peer Education: Expunge.io
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Pro Bono Projects
• The Need: In 2012, over 14,000 juvenile cases were filed in Washington State, each creating a court record.
• Building awareness: Thousands of individuals do not know that their juvenile criminal history will affect them until it is too late.
• Self-help and Clinics:TeamChild Juvenile Records Sealing Clinic and Resources
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Questions?
• Brent Pattison, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Middleton Children’s Rights Center at Drake University Law School, Moderator [email protected]
• Riya Shah, Staff Attorney, Juvenile Law Center [email protected] • Kim Ambrose, Senior Lecturer and Director, Race and Justice Clinic,
University of Washington School of Law [email protected]
• Sharlyn Grace, VISTA Attorney, Children and Families Practice Group, LAF, Chicago [email protected]