The idea of Restorative Justice has long been the underlying philosophy in juvenile courts. Professor Carrie Menkel-Meadow of the Georgetown University Law Center examines this philosophy in various contexts, including the juvenile courts, to discover what place it should hold. Below is the abstract to her article, Restorative Justice: What is it and [...]
In November 2008, the Sunset Commission will issue a report with recommendations for TYC. (Link) The Sunset commission “periodically evaluate a state agency to determine if the agency is still needed, and what improvements are needed to ensure that state funds are well spent. Based on the recommendations of the Sunset Commission, the Texas Legislature [...]
Grits for Breakfast and the Brownsville Herald reported that Justice of the Peace Gustavo “Gus” Garza, from Brownsville, Texas, was ordered last month by State District Judge Abel C. Limas to stop his practice of offering spanking as an alternative sanction for disciplining children in his courtroom. If a child was convicted of truancy, JP [...]
In my colleague’s post, What Does Justice Mean For a 14 Year Old Girl Who Kills Her New Born Son? (07/02/08) he references the surprisingly common case of a woman who was unaware of her pregnancy until going to an ER in pain. It was her second child. The Baytown girl charged with capital murder also claims that she was unaware of her [...]
As reported by the Child Welfare League of America, a bill has been introduced to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. The law is the largest source of federal funding for the improvement of states’ juvenile systems. As summarized on the Building Blocks for Youth website, Congress placed four stipulations on [...]
