Two years in the making, a report on California’s juvenile courts warns that children and parents are often bewildered by what happens in courtrooms, and judges and attorneys don’t always have access to all the information they need to make decisions.
The California Judicial Council’s stem-to-stern inspection is the first full-scale examination of court procedures and effectiveness. Juvenile courts were established statewide in 1961.
Many courts are failing in their basic responsibility to make sure children and parents know what is happening to them, according to the report, which was released in April.
“A lot of it is as basic as a kid who doesn’t understand what the word allegation’ means,” said Judge Brian John Back, who headed the examination. “And when we have a room full of prosecutors, defense lawyers all using numbers from penal codes, shorthand and jargon, the kids just cannot comprehend what has just happened to them,” said Back, who spent six years as presiding judge at Ventura County’s Juvenile Court. “Juveniles uniformly said, We have no idea what just happened in court.’ There is an inability for them to know what judges and attorneys do.”