Juvenile Law Commons^™

The Use Of Facilitated Communication In Child Abuse Prosecutions, James Frederick Watson

University of Richmond Law Review

Before allowing a child who has alleged that he or she has been abused to testify at trial, a judge must be satisfied that the child is competent. In other words, the judge must find that the child has the ability to "observe, record, recollect and recount as well as an understanding of the duty to tell the truth." Determining whether children with certain developmental disorders are competent to testify has recently presented the courts with some difficult issues, as evidenced by a recent case in which the Supreme Court of Kansas upheld a conviction based primarily on the apparent …

Austin Owen Lecture: Reassessment Should Not Lead To Wholesale Rejection Of The Juvenile Justice System, Lawrence L. Koontz Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

While coming into the twenty-first century will be a new experience for all of us, we should be conscious of the intersections of the past, present, and future as we near the year 2000.

Novak V. Commonwealth: Are Virginia Courts Providing Special Protection To Virginia's Juvenile Defendants?, Ellen R. Fulmer

University of Richmond Law Review

On March 9, 1991, Shawn Paul Novak was charged with the murder of two young boys, Daniel Grier, age nine, and Christopher Weaver, age seven. The boys had disappeared on March 4 and their bodies were found the next day after an extensive search. The police inquiry into the murders led to the questioning of a number of people, including Shawn, then age sixteen. Shawn was questioned on four separate occasions. At no time prior to, during, or after any of these questioning sessions was Shawn read his Mirandawarnings which specify the rights to which he was entitled under the …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

The past year has been exceptionally important for children and young people caught up in the legal system, both nationally and in Virginia. Beginning with the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Vernonia School District v. Acton in June of 1995, the ensuing year has seen major shifts in the administration of juvenile justice, and in Virginia's approach to abused and neglected children. The passage of major juvenile justice reform legislation and child abuse legislation in Virginia at the 1996 General Assembly session exemplifies these changes occurring in both the society's and the legal system's approaches …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

The past year has been another significant year for children and the legal system with the completion of the Virginia Commission on Youth's Serious Juvenile Offender study and the enactment of comprehensive legislation intended to implement the recommendations of that study as the General Assembly continues to focus on juvenile delinquency and school behaviors. The Governor and General Assembly failed to agree on a funding scheme for the Family Court, created in 1993, which consequently postponed the date for the Family Court's implementation from January 1, 1995 until July 1, 1996. Also, the past year experienced a series of different …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

In the past year, several significant developments affecting children and the legal system have occurred: first, the General Assembly's enactment of Family Court legislation introduced under the auspices of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Judicial Council; second, the reaffirmation of the Comprehensive Services Act, a state-wide, community-based, inter-agency system of delivering services to children, youth and their families; third, the adoption of a number of bills which address the growing problem of violence by juveniles; and fourth, an increasing number of decisions concerning transfer of juveniles to the circuit courts to be tried as adults, which also reflects …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

Three events in the past year significantly impacted the way the legal system treats children. First, the family court experiment being conducted under the auspices of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Judicial Council was concluded. Second, the General Assembly established a state-wide, community-based, inter-agency system to deliver services to children and youth. Third, the Virginia Supreme Court promulgated the first set of statewide rules governing proceedings in juvenile and domestic relations district courts. The year's other developments were not as systemic or far reaching as those above, although recommendations flowing from the Youth Services Commission's' legislatively-mandated study of …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

The past year was considerably more tranquil than recent years with regard to legal developments involving children. For example, there were no major United States Supreme Court decisions directly affecting children, and the 1991 Virginia General Assembly's actions impacted on children mainly through budget cuts and the disappointing abolition of the Department for Children - a result of those cuts. Virginia's child labor laws were extensively revised in 1991, but few of these revisions will make a noticeable difference in the work relationships of the state's youth because they largely conform state law to existing federal law. Finally, legislation was …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

The past few years of legal developments involving children have been marked in part by an increase in the number of major decisions from the United States Supreme Court which have had a direct impact on children. Some of those decisions have had a very dramatic effect, as noted in previous surveys, such as juvenile death penalty cases, cases addressing issues involving abused or neglected children, an opinion defining the associational rights of children, two cases further extending the rights of illegitimate children, decisions addressing the educational rights of handicapped children, and three important decisions narrowing the first amendment and …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

The past year was significant on several fronts where delinquency was concerned. The General Assembly responded positively to fifteen years of advocacy for a separate administrative agency to deal with delinquent youths. There were several important Virginia decisions governing the transfer process in an era of growing concern about serious offenses by juveniles, and the Supreme Court of the United States brought some closure to constitutional attacks on the death penalty for minors.

The School Pays The Piper, But How Much? Attorneys Fees In Special Education Cases After The Handicapped Children’S Protection Act Of 1986, Thomas F. Guernsey

Law Faculty Publications

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (the EHA) imposes significant responsibilities on local and state educational authorities to ensure that handicapped children are receiving free and appropriate public education. To protect this substantive right to education, Congress mandated extensive procedural protections, including the right to file a judicial action following exhaustion of administrative remedies. The EHA did not provide for the recovery of attorneys' fees, however, until the statute was recently amended. ...

When The Teachers And Parents Can’T Agree, Who Really Decides? Burdens Of Proof And Standards Of Review Under The Education For All Handicapped Children Act, Thomas F. Guernsey

Law Faculty Publications

In 1975, the United States Congress passed, and President Ford signed into law, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (hereinafter the Act or EAHCA). The key provision of the Act was that each handicapped child was entitled to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (hereinafter FAPE). Congress provided extensive procedural protections to ensure that the school authorities provided children with a FAPE. The extensive procedural protections included parental participation in most decisions affecting the child's educational program. ...

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

This article last year noted the disturbing increase in the number of reported cases involving individuals prosecuted for the sexual abuse of children, and the persistence of legislative efforts to address the profound difficulties encountered by young children called as witnesses in those cases. This year, the General Assembly finally yielded to the urgings of those seeking changes in the law, and to the recommendations of a joint legislative subcommittee created in 1987 to study the problem of child abuse victims as witnesses in the courtroom. The subcommittee recommended the enactment of four bills in an effort to minimize the …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

The most notable development this past year in the area of juvenile delinquency and noncriminal misbehavior was the passage by the Virginia General Assembly of legislation modifying the state's response to status offenses committed by children. Ever since the adoption of the revised juvenile code in 1977 there have been efforts at practically every session of the Assembly to modify the provisions which prohibit the commitment of status offenders to secure institutions, but the efforts were not successful. However, the 1987 bill met with little resistance in the legislature. The 1987 legislation, effective July 1, 1988, does two very significant …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

After unusual activity at both the federal and state levels in the previous year, this past year was a relatively uneventful one where the law of juvenile delinquency was concerned. The historic jail removal legislation enacted at the 1985 session of the Virginia General Assembly became fully effective on July 1, 1986. The provisions of this legislation severely limit the use of an adult jail for juvenile detention purposes and completely ban the dispositional use of such a facility for juveniles.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

This section focuses on Virginia and federal developments affecting children from January 1984 through June 1985. The discussion will concentrate on legal developments impacting on juvenile delinquency; abused, neglected and missing children; paternity; child support; and the problems of educationally disadvantaged and handicapped children. Child custody developments are addressed in the section on Domestic Relations.

Meet The New Juvenile And Domestic Relations District Court, Ingrid Michelsen Hillinger

University of Richmond Law Review

Without trumpet or even modest fanfare, the 1981 Virginia General Assembly passed two new subsections to Title 16.1 of the Code of Virginia, amending the jurisdiction of the juvenile and domestic relations district courts (hereinafter cited as J & DR). Despite their uncontroversial passage, they portend significant changes for the J & DR court and the circuit court as well, and have generated surprise and bewilderment among the J & DR court judges. This article explores the meaning of the amendments and their longterm implications.

The Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege In Child Placement: A Relevancy Analysis, Thomas F. Guernsey

Law Faculty Publications

In any child placement decision, the predominant consideration is the welfare of the child. Accordingly, the most widely used test in determining child custody is clearly the "best interests of the child" standard. Despite its relatively old vintage, the standard continues to represent a nebulous concept that courts have rarely been able to define with precision. Because of its open-ended nature, the best interests of the child standard makes relevant a wide range of evidence pertaining to the fitness of the parents and the environment in which the child will be raised. it is in determining these facts that child …

Outpatient Mental Health Care Services - A Minor's Right, John V. Cogbill Iii

University of Richmond Law Review

The 1979 Session of the General Assembly made important changes in Title 54 of the Code of Virginia pertaining to health care for minors. One of the principal changes involved the right of unemancipated minors to seek outpatient treatment for mental health problems without the consent of their parents. Additionally, lawmakers deleted the criminal sanctions imposed against medical practitioners who performed authorized abortions on consenting minors. This bill appears to bring into Virginia a partial realization of a child's right to due process and equal protection under the law.

Children And The Law - Foreword, Birch Bayh

University of Richmond Law Review

As a parent, legislator, and former Chairman of the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency, the problems of the youth of our nation are very close to my heart. I think that raising a young person is one of the most difficult and important challenges that a person can ever face. Our collective success or failure in raising young people actually determines the future of the country. Happy, secure and well-educated youth will be effective, productive and useful citizens. Young people who have been beaten, starved, or deprived of love have accounted for the major portion of …

The Revision Of Virginia's Juvenile Court Law, Lelia Baum Hopper, Frank M. Slayton

University of Richmond Law Review

Since 1899, the year in which the state of Illinois established a separate statutory framework for addressing the problems of children before the courts, the juvenile justice system has been struggling to establish its identity in the jurisprudence of the United States. The juvenile court laws of this country, including those of the Commonwealth of Virginia, have historically been based on the doctrine of "parens patriae", which is formally defined as the "sovereign power of guardianship over persons under disability."' According to this doctrine, the state, through the court system, can be trusted to fulfill its obligation with respect to …

The Right To Treatment, Adrienne E. Volenik

Law Faculty Publications

This article seeks to. trace the development of the right to treatment in the juvenile justice system from its origins to the present. This exposition does not represent an in-depth analysis of the concept. Instead it seeks to acquaint the reader with how the right has been interpreted as being applicable to various phases of the juvenile system. This is accomplished through a summary of individual cases.

The author does not intend to posit her views on the future role the right to treatment will play in the juvenile justice system or the influence that it will have on decision …