Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Children ARE the new terrorists!
Should youths be in chains?
N.C. latest facing questions on shackles for juvenile suspects
Child advocacy groups in North Carolina are attacking the practice of shackling children during juvenile court hearings as unlawful and emotionally abusive.
But sheriff's officials say it's necessary to keep troubled children from running away or disrupting court.
Criticism of the practice has been growing around the country, with litigation cropping up from Florida to California to North Dakota.
The legal controversy arrived in North Carolina on Monday when lawyers filed a motion in Greensboro protesting the shackling of a 14-year-old girl facing larceny charges.
They said the girl had previously been handcuffed by a molester, and that she cried during an August court appearance when the shackles triggered flashbacks of the sexual assault.
Her lawyers asked Guilford County judges to end the practice of shackling children there, except in cases where a specific child poses a threat. The motion asserts that shackling unlawfully violates children's rights to be presumed innocent, as well as other legal protections afforded adult suspects.
"Without a finding that (juveniles) pose a threat to themselves or others or pose a threat of fleeing, they should not be shackled," said Keith Howard, a lawyer with Legal Aid of North Carolina.
Legal Aid attorneys want new laws to end the practice statewide. Some lawyers in Charlotte want the practice ended in Mecklenburg courtrooms.
As many as 30 children come to Mecklenburg's juvenile court each week for detention hearings at which judges must decide whether they will remain in custody or be released while the charges against them move through the legal system.
Some face charges as serious as murder, but state juvenile justice records suggest most typically face charges such as breaking and entering and larceny.
During hearings Monday afternoon, children were shackled at the ankles with a thin chain that looked to be about 2 feet long. Children in Charlotte are also shackled during mental health commitment hearings -- a fact officials with the nonprofit Council for Children's Rights find particularly disturbing.
"A lot of times these kids have post-traumatic stress disorder," said Valerie Pearce, an attorney with the council. "And then you're adding shackles. It just frightens them to death."
But a spokeswoman for the Mecklenburg Sheriff's Office said the policy is necessary because some juveniles are violent, and many would run away. She said some fight during transport from juvenile jails, or turn rowdy in court.
"They're not the most disciplined kids. Some of them are meek and scared, but not many," said the spokeswoman, Julia Rush. "These are not throwaway kids, but our experience has shown they will turn on you in a heartbeat."
In Florida, where debate over shackling has raged in recent months, judges have decided the issue. Judges in Broward and Miami-Dade counties stopped the indiscriminate shackling of juvenile suspects; judges in Palm Beach County allowed it to continue.
It isn't clear exactly how widespread the practice is in courtrooms across North Carolina, but several officials said juveniles are generally shackled.
Mecklenburg District Judge Lou Trosch said local courts don't have specific rules governing shackling. He added that most judges follow the sheriff's policy, but deviate from it when necessary.
Monday afternoon in Courtroom 8370, adolescent girls accused of crimes ranging from robbery with a dangerous weapon to probation violation appeared in court. Several smiled, flashing braces. Their leg shackles jingled as they moved to the defendant's table.
Outside the courtroom, one girl's mother said she could understand officials' need to keep some children shackled.
"They should do it on a case-by-case basis," she said, then added: "It's kind of hard. You don't want your kids down here in the first place, much less shackled."
N.C. latest facing questions on shackles for juvenile suspects
Child advocacy groups in North Carolina are attacking the practice of shackling children during juvenile court hearings as unlawful and emotionally abusive.But sheriff's officials say it's necessary to keep troubled children from running away or disrupting court.
Criticism of the practice has been growing around the country, with litigation cropping up from Florida to California to North Dakota.
The legal controversy arrived in North Carolina on Monday when lawyers filed a motion in Greensboro protesting the shackling of a 14-year-old girl facing larceny charges.
They said the girl had previously been handcuffed by a molester, and that she cried during an August court appearance when the shackles triggered flashbacks of the sexual assault.
Her lawyers asked Guilford County judges to end the practice of shackling children there, except in cases where a specific child poses a threat. The motion asserts that shackling unlawfully violates children's rights to be presumed innocent, as well as other legal protections afforded adult suspects.
"Without a finding that (juveniles) pose a threat to themselves or others or pose a threat of fleeing, they should not be shackled," said Keith Howard, a lawyer with Legal Aid of North Carolina.
Legal Aid attorneys want new laws to end the practice statewide. Some lawyers in Charlotte want the practice ended in Mecklenburg courtrooms.
As many as 30 children come to Mecklenburg's juvenile court each week for detention hearings at which judges must decide whether they will remain in custody or be released while the charges against them move through the legal system.
Some face charges as serious as murder, but state juvenile justice records suggest most typically face charges such as breaking and entering and larceny.
During hearings Monday afternoon, children were shackled at the ankles with a thin chain that looked to be about 2 feet long. Children in Charlotte are also shackled during mental health commitment hearings -- a fact officials with the nonprofit Council for Children's Rights find particularly disturbing.
"A lot of times these kids have post-traumatic stress disorder," said Valerie Pearce, an attorney with the council. "And then you're adding shackles. It just frightens them to death."
But a spokeswoman for the Mecklenburg Sheriff's Office said the policy is necessary because some juveniles are violent, and many would run away. She said some fight during transport from juvenile jails, or turn rowdy in court.
"They're not the most disciplined kids. Some of them are meek and scared, but not many," said the spokeswoman, Julia Rush. "These are not throwaway kids, but our experience has shown they will turn on you in a heartbeat."
In Florida, where debate over shackling has raged in recent months, judges have decided the issue. Judges in Broward and Miami-Dade counties stopped the indiscriminate shackling of juvenile suspects; judges in Palm Beach County allowed it to continue.
It isn't clear exactly how widespread the practice is in courtrooms across North Carolina, but several officials said juveniles are generally shackled.
Mecklenburg District Judge Lou Trosch said local courts don't have specific rules governing shackling. He added that most judges follow the sheriff's policy, but deviate from it when necessary.
Monday afternoon in Courtroom 8370, adolescent girls accused of crimes ranging from robbery with a dangerous weapon to probation violation appeared in court. Several smiled, flashing braces. Their leg shackles jingled as they moved to the defendant's table.
Outside the courtroom, one girl's mother said she could understand officials' need to keep some children shackled.
"They should do it on a case-by-case basis," she said, then added: "It's kind of hard. You don't want your kids down here in the first place, much less shackled."
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