NE 14 yr old juvenile tried as an adult and get 60 to 60 years

"After [Goodwin] giving a statement to police ... admitted firing shots which killed a 6-year-old girl, Goodwin was charged with first degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Goodwin was 14 years 3 months of age at the time of the shooting and the district court denied his motion to transfer his case to juvenile court and his motion to suppress the statement. Goodwin was tried before a jury where his defense was that he fired the fatal shots, but that he did so without the intent to kill and was therefore guilty only of manslaughter. After the jury received a step instruction he was found guilty of second degree murder and a related weapons charge. Goodwin appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court challenging the denial of the district court of his motion to transfer, his motion to suppress, and the step instructions given to the jury. The Court affirmed his conviction and sentence of 50 to 50 years’ imprisonment on the second degree murder conviction and to a consecutive term of 10 to 10 years’ imprisonment on the weapons charge, with credit given for time served ." at 947.

State v. Goodwin, 278 Neb. 945 (2009)

Imprisoning a Child for Life for a non-homicide crime?

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Oral Agruments about the consititutionality of imprisoning juveniles for life for non-homicide crimes. An excellent editoral by the N.Y. Times questions this of U.S. Courts' practice of sentencing juveniles to life for crimes that DO NOT include murder, i.e., taking someone's life. A practice that almost all civilized nations have abandoned but yet United States has NOT. This article is a must read! What do you think?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/opinion/09mon1.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Most States Fail to Protect Children's Rights in juvenile court proceedings

A report released today says that most U.S. states do not adequately protect the rights of abused and neglected children, specifically by failing to provide these children with appointed counsel to represent and protect the children's interests in juvenile court proceedings. This is truly a sad commentary on the status of chlidren's rights in America.

Twenty-nine states were given grades of C or lower. These states are:

Grade of C: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin.

Grade of D: Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Washington.

Grade of F: Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maine and North Dakota.

As you can see, Nebraska was given a grade of C.

http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2009/10/most-states-fail-to-protect-childrens-rights.html

Special Needs Student beaten by Illinois police

Dolton, -- 15-year-old Marshawn Pitts was brutally beaten by a Dolton police officer, because his shirt wasnt tucked in. Pitts was a student at the Academy for Learning High School in Dolton, which claims to be a school for children with learning disabilities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGoF3h9iQ5Y

Promising Practices to Improve Latinas' Graduation Rates, a free conference call, will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

Promising Practices to Improve Latinas' Graduation Rates, a free conference call, will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
http://action.nwlc.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=7840&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS

Supreme Court to consider juvenile 'lifers'

Is it cruel and unusual punishment to imprison a juvenile until s/he dies when the crime does not involve a murder. The Supreme Court is set to reconsider this issue in their fall term that opens Oct. 5.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-preview28-2009sep28,0,1454652.story

Baby Taken Away From Mother Because She Can't Speak English

"The Mississippi Department of Human Services (DHS) recently ruled that a woman was an unfit mother because she can't speak English. The DHS declared that the inability to speak English, "placed her unborn child in danger and will place the baby in danger in the future."
Baltazar Cruz is a 34-year-old women from the Oaxaca region of Mexico. She is from a small village of 1,500 people, almost all of them Chatino Indians like herself. Cruz, who was raised speaking Chatino, speaks only a little bit of Spanish and no English..."
http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/news-politics/baby-taken-away-mother-because-she-cant-speak-english

Latest Case Updates

These are the most recent caselaw updates:

In re Interest of Leslie S. et al.
Filed on August 4, 2009____ N.W.2d ____, 17 Neb. App. 828SUMMARY: The juvenile court did not err in denying transfer of the case to tribal court because the case was in its advanced stages (i.e., termination of parental rights), the father did not file the motion to transfer until 2 […]

In re Interest of Carlos R., et al
Filed on July 21, 2009Not designated for permanent publicationA-09-089
SUMMARY: Grandparents no longer have a legal interest in court proceedings or a right to visitation once parents’ parental rights have been terminated, and could not intervene as foster or prospective adoptive parents as a matter of right. The children, Carlos, Carlynn and […]

In re Interest of Angelica L. and Daniel L.
Filed on June 26, 2009____ N.W.2d _____, 277 Neb. 984SUMMARY: Termination of the parental rights of a deported mother was improper because the State did not prove parental unfitness especially as the mother submitted overwhelming evidence in two home studies of her fitness as a parent. The “best interest” […]

In re Interest of Elias L.
Filed on June 26, 2009___ N.W.2d ____, 277 Neb. 1023
SUMMARY: Under its right to intervene in ICWA proceeding, a Tribe’s designated representative does not have to be authorized to practice law and may fully participate in proceedings. The Ponce Tribe of Nebraska made a motion to intervene in child custody proceedings […]

In re Interest of Chance J.
Filed on June 2, 2009____ N.W.2d ____, 17 Neb. App. 645
SUMMARY: The father did not abandon the child for purposes of 43-292 as he reasonably believed at birth that he was not the biological father of the child, had no contact with the mother or DHHS until the termination petition […]
http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/caselaw/

Kudos to Judge Douglas Johnson

Congratulations to Judge Douglas Johnson of the Separate Juvenile Court of Douglas County who was installed as the President of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) in July 2009. The 2000-member NCJFCJ is the nation’s oldest judicial membership organization, and is focused on improving the effectiveness of juvenile and family courts. Kudos!
August/September 2009 Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative E-Newsletter

Mentally Ill Offenders Strain Juvenile System

"As cash-starved states slash mental health programs in communities and schools, they are increasingly relying on the juvenile corrections system to handle a generation of young offenders with psychiatric disorders. About two-thirds of the nation’s juvenile inmates — who numbered 92,854 in 2006, down from 107,000 in 1999 — have at least one mental illness, according to surveys of youth prisons, and are more in need of therapy than punishment. “We’re seeing more and more mentally ill kids who couldn’t find community programs that were intensive enough to treat them,” said Joseph Penn, a child psychiatrist at the Texas Youth Commission. “Jails and juvenile justice facilities are the new asylums.” At least 32 states cut their community mental health programs by an average of 5 percent this year and plan to double those budget reductions by 2010, according to a recent survey of state mental health offices."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/us/10juvenile.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

23-year-old Nebraska woman gets probation for contributing to the delinqency of 17 yr boy.

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — "A 23-year-old North Platte woman who helped a 17-year-old boy escape a home for troubled teens and hid with him in Missouri has been given three years' probation. In a deal with prosecutors, Briana Turnbull pleaded no contest last month to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, attempted juvenile escape and violation of a custody order. The sentence handed down Wednesday included 120 days in jail that can be waived if she completes probation successfully. Her father is Lincoln County Judge Kent Turnbull, so the trial was moved to Dawson County.Police say Turnbull helped the teenager escape in November. Turnbull was working there. The two went to Carthage, Mo., and stayed for three months before returning to Nebraska."
http://www.fox2now.com/news/sns-bc-ne--escapecharges-sentence,0,7060959.story

Juvenile Arrested In Slaying Of Sex Assault Suspect

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- A juvenile boy was arrested Monday, accused of shooting and killing a man who was supposed to go to trial on charges of sexually assaulting a child.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/20055171/detail.html

Trevor Casey accuses two Toledo police officers of beating him

The fourteen year-old boy, Trevor Casey, whose arrest sparked national controversy faces a judge for the first time today. The youth,Trevor Casey, accuses two Toledo police officers of beating him and the video of the alleged incident was posted on the internet, attached below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jZ0Iz2ws9I

"Casey's family says he didn't resist and the officers used excessive force. The family also says he was diagnosed with post traumatic stress and vision loss in one eye after the incident."
http://www.wtol.com/global/Story.asp?s=10531942

NY court strikes down city youth curfew

"In a 5-2 ruling, the state Court of Appeals said the September 2006 ordinance gives parents too little flexibility and autonomy in supervising their children. The curfew also violates the children's rights to freedom of movement, freedom of expression and association, and equal protection under the law, it said. "
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--rochestercurfew-c0609jun09,0,1760453.story

Termination of Parental Rights, Abandonment, Intent to Abandon

The Nebraska Court of Appeals finds that the juvenile court erred in terminating parental rights of the child’s father because, in the Court’s de novo review, they ruled the father had no intention of abandoning the child. The dissent warns that the slippery slope established here where a married man would be able to abandon a child of the marriage “based upon the physical features of a child that are substantially different from his own physical features.”
In re Interest of Chance J., 17 Neb. App. 645 (2009)
Filed June 2, 2009. No. A-08-962.

Child rape survivor saves 'virgin myth' victims

Hope was 14 years old when her uncle raped her. Like many young girls in Zimbabwe, Hope was the victim of a widely held belief that if a man with HIV or AIDS rapes a virgin he will be cured of his disease. This so-called virgin myth, perpetuated by Zimbabwe's traditional healers, has led to the rape of hundreds of girls, according to UNICEF. Some of those victims are too young to walk, much less protect themselves.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/06/04/cnnheroes.betty.makoni/index.html

4 teens charged as adults in locker room sexual assault case

Hillsborough County, Florida, prosecutors allege the four boys repeatedly raped the 13-year-old boy multiple times over two months with a broomstick and hockey stick in their locker room. Incredibly, numerous boys witnessed the multiple attacks, but no one reported incidents to school officials.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/04/florida.sexual.assault/index.html

Names of accused juveniles are released

ABILENE -- Dickinson County Sheriff Gareth Hoffman on Wednesday released the names of the juveniles accused of stealing a car in Junction City and going on a three-county crime spree. http://www.salina.com/news/story/juveniles-named-6309

Recent news articles about NE children/juvenle issues

* Nebraska Falls Short of Standards in Child Welfare Report <http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/03/28/nebraska-falls-short-of-standards-in-child-welfare-report/> , Lincoln Journal Star

* A Mother’s Unspeakable Choice <http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/03/30/a-mothers-unspeakable-choice/> , CBS News

* Protecting Our Innocent: Reducing the Risk <http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/03/31/protecting-our-innocent-reducing-the-risk/> , KOLN KGIN

* Group Forged by Children, Family Crises Meets with Senators <http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/04/09/group-forged-by-children-family-crises-meets-with-senators/> , Lincoln Journal Star

* Judge Blasts HHS Over Delay in Teen’s Care <http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/04/13/judge-blasts-hhs-over-delay-in-teens-care/> , Omaha World Herald

* Safe Haven-inspired Efforts are Shrinking <http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/04/16/safe-haven-inspired-efforts-are-shrinking/> , Omaha World Herald

* Kush Mansion May Soon be Treatment Center for Youths <http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/04/17/kush-mansion-may-soon-be-treatment-center-for-youths/> , Omaha World Herald

* After Losing Freedom, Some Immigrants Face Loss of Custody of the Their Children <http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/04/22/after-losing-freedom-some-immigrants-face-loss-of-custody-of-their-children/> , New York Times

* Lawmakers Advance Bill to Help Troubled Children <http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/04/30/lawmakers-advance-bill-to-help-troubled-children/> , Omaha World Herald

* Safe-haven Problems Addressed by Neb. Lawmakers <http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/04/30/safe-haven-problems-addressed-by-neb-lawmakers/> , KMEG 14

* Some Good Coming from Safe-Haven Flap <http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/05/01/some-good-coming-from-safe-haven-flap/> , McCook Gazette

Courtesy of June 2009 E-Newsletter: Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative

In re Interest of Dakota L.., et al (Unpublished opinion, March 24, 2009)

It is a violation of procedural due process to proceed with a hearing on the termination of parental rights in the absence of the parent and the parent’s attorney, more so when the parent’s attorney has been suspended from the practice of law. Full Opinion http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/03/24/in-re-interest-of-dakota-l-et-al-2/

NE caselaw--In re Interest of Enrique G. (Unpublished opinion, March 24, 2009)

The child comes within the meaning of 43-247(3)(a) because he is at risk for harm due to the father’s failure to pay child support and lack of any evidence that he provided the child with proper parental care and support. Full Opinion http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/03/24/in-re-interest-of-enrique-g/

NE caselaw--In re Interest of Dannon C. et al., (Unpublished opinion, March 24, 2009)

The father’s testimony as to his paternity of the child was sufficient to establish paternity. Reasonable efforts were not required to be proven in the termination of parental rights as the bases for termination were 43-292(1) and (7) Full Opinion
http://www.throughtheeyes.org/articles/2009/03/24/in-re-interest-of-dannon-c-et-al/

Sotomayor Stands Up Against Unreasonable Strip Searches

by Judith E Schaeffer Tue Jun 02, 2009 at 11:35:44 AM PDT
The Fourth Amendment of our Constitution expressly gives every person in this country the right to be free from "unreasonable searches and seizures." Sometime in the next few weeks, the Supreme Court will decide whether that fundamental guarantee was violated by public school officials who strip searched a 13-year-old girl -- an 8th grade honor student with no disciplinary record -- on the basis of an unsubstantiated tip from another student that the girl might be in possession of the headache remedy ibuprofen (commonly known as Nuprin or Advil). The precise legal question the Court will need to determine in Safford Unified School District v. Redding is whether, under the circumstances, school officials violated the young girl’s Fourth Amendment right not to be subjected to an "unreasonable" search when they had her strip to her underwear and pull her bra and underpants out and shake them in front of school employees searching for a headache pill. Legitimate and important competing interests bear on that decision -- the interest of school officials in maintaining the safety of all students in their care, as well as the privacy and human dignity interests of the young girl who was subjected to the strip search (which turned up nothing).
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/2/738060/-Sotomayor-Stands-Up-Against-Unreasonable-Strip-Searches

Debate Over Child Executions Roils Iran's Presidential Vote

By FARNAZ FASSIHI
TEHRAN, Iran -- The day before two of his young clients were to be hanged, lawyer Mohamad Mostafaei went to a Justice Ministry office here to request a stay of execution. Mr. Mostafaei's errand should have been routine, if solemn: He represents 30 of the 135 criminals under the age of 18 on Iran's death row. Instead, he says, he was detained and grilled for an hour and a half, part of Iran's widening crackdown on human-rights activists. "Anything can happen to you at any time," said Mr. Mostafaei, 34 years old. A Justice Ministry spokesman said the mid-May incident wasn't a detention, and that Mr. Mostafaei was merely asked the purpose of his visit... As Iranians prepare to elect their next president on June 12, a range of civil-liberties issues -- from juvenile executions to the freedom to blog -- have become hot topics. Ending a period of relative openness, the government has pursued a clampdown on dissidents, human-rights activists, journalists and students, the likes of which hasn't been seen here in decades. The crackdown is led by conservative lawmakers who rose to power in recent years. Analysts say Iran's regime tends to view dissent as a national-security risk and a departure from the ideals of Iran's Islamic revolution of the 1970s under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124355320443064445.html

Parents' Rights on Children's Medical Treatment in Hot Debate in U.S.

by George Bao
A federal warrant to arrest an American mother who ran away with her son to flee medical treatment has raised questions in the United States whether parents have the right on their children's medical treatment and to what degree the government can intervene in this aspect. Daniel Hauser, a 13-year-old boy in Minnesota , was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a kind of cancer doctors say is highly curable unless it is too late for the chemotherapy to work. But after only one treatment, his parents decided to stop chemotherapy. Then the government intervened. A judge ruled that Hauser's parents were neglecting for stopping their son's chemotherapy and ordered them to appear in court on Tuesday. However, on Tuesday, only Hauser's father Anthony showed up in court, while the boy's mother Colleen Hauser failed to report to the judge. Anthony Hauser told the judge that his wife and son disappeared, but he did not know where they were, nor did they tell him where they would go. The judge ruled that it was in the boy's best interests to resume medical treatment for fear that the boy would die without proper treatment. The judge also issued a warrant to arrest Colleen Hauser and ordered that the boy be placed in a foster home, which means the boy's parents would have no right to take care of their son.
http://english.cri.cn/6966/2009/05/24/1781s487276.htm

Termination of Parental Rights, Best Interests of the Child, “Last Minute” Efforts Distinguished Because of Length of Case.

In this termination of parental rights case, the Nebraska Court of Appeals finds that the mother’s progress over the 17 months following the filing of the termination motion has been consistent and substantial, and given the length of time elapsed, cannot be considered “last minute.” Therefore, upon their de novo review and under the circumstances presented by this case, they were not clearly convinced that termination of the mother’s parental rights was in the child’s best interests so they ruled that the juvenile court erred in finding that termination of parental rights was in the child’s best interests.
In re Interest of Dannie H. MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT ON APPEAL
Filed May 19, 2009. No. A-08-1007.

Data show minority juveniles arrested more often

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN Associated Press Writer
May 21, 2009
ALBANY, N.Y. - With data showing black and Hispanic juveniles in New York arrested, detained and confined to custody far more often than whites, state officials are looking for ways to reduce that disproportion. Data show minority children statewide are arrested almost twice as often as whites, are six times likelier to be detained awaiting trial and are five times likelier to be confined to custody afterward, according to New York's Division of Criminal Justice Services The disparity is larger in New York City, where the state Office of Children and Family Services said 6,984 black and 3,966 Hispanic youths were arrested in 2006, compared with 966 white juveniles.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--juvenilearrests0521may21,0,4527964.story

More on Irish Abuse of boys

"A climate of fear, created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment, permeated most of the institutions and all those run for boys."an Irish government commission, on abuse in residential schools run by the Catholic Church.

Commission to Inquire Into Irish Child Abuse Report

The Report of the Committee from late 2004 covered over 20 Irish industrial and reformatory schools. Further modules included the investigation of the career of one abuser, who was employed in a succession of national schools. In addition to these inquiries, other areas examined included the role of the Department of Education, and the funding of the schools.
http://www.childabusecommission.ie/rpt/

Irish school victims angry that abusers not named

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK – 1 hour ago
DUBLIN (AP) — The thousands of victims of Ireland's child-abuse homes spent decades just trying to get the public to believe them — but even after a mammoth investigation proved the horrors of their youth, many say they are no nearer to real justice. A nine-year probe into child abuse by Ireland's Catholic religious orders painted a damning portrait Wednesday of a system that protected child-molesting church officials while consigning generations of Ireland's poorest children to misery from the 1930s to the 1990s. The victims, now mostly in their 50s to 80s, said for all its incredible detail, the 2,600-page report didn't make public what really matters — the names of their abusers. That's because a religious order at the heart of the abuse charges — the Christian Brothers — successfully sued the investigators to keep the identities of all their abusive members secret. "I do genuinely believe that it would have been a further step towards our healing if our abusers had been named and shamed," said Christine Buckley, 62, who spent her first 18 years in a Dublin orphanage run by Sisters of Mercy nuns.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hG7UpOwvc_tTJz3KkFUHO9AUBnBAD98AI1BG1

Report reveals decades of child abuse in Irish institutions

(CNN) -- Thousands of children suffered sexual abuse, beatings, malnutrition and emotional abuse for decades in the Irish institutions where they were raised, an Irish government commission said Wednesday. Sean Ryan, chairman of the commission appointed by the Irish government, announces his findings Wednesday. Catholic clergy ran the vast majority of the reformatories and orphanages where the abuse allegedly took place, it said. There were institutions where sexual abuse was a "chronic problem" and where "floggings" that "should not have been tolerated in any institution" were "inflicted for even minor transgressions," the commission's wide-ranging report says. The report details the case of one "serial sexual and physical abuser" who "physically terrorized and sexually abused children in his classroom" in six schools over a period of 40 years -- and was "persistently protected" by church and educational authorities. The man, identified only by a pseudonym, was finally convicted of sexual abuse in the 1980s, the report says. Adults were not the only ones inflicting abuse, the report charges -- in some schools older boys harmed younger ones. Children with special needs were among the victims, the report says. Boys were far more likely to be sexually abused than girls, the report says. About half of all witnesses who testified to the commission's confidential committee said they were sexually abused. More than nine out of 10 said they were physically abused.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/05/20/ireland.catholic.report.abuse/index.html

Permanency applies to Foster-care children who are delinquent, too.

The Nebraska Supreme Court held that § 43-1312(3) requires a permanency hearing for every child in foster care, including delinquent children in foster care. The Nebraska Supreme Court concludes here that a permanency hearing under § 43-1312(3) applies to juveniles who are in foster care because of their delinquent behavior.
In re Interest of Spencer O., 277 Neb. 776 (2009)
Filed May 15, 2009. Nos. S-08-583, S-08-584.

Shenandoah teen admits in juvenile court his role in fatal beating of an illegal immigrant

The Associated Press
POTTSVILLE - A Shenandoah teenager admitted in Schuylkill County Juvenile Court here today that he took part in the fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant last summer. Eighteen-year-old Brian Scully apologized for the July 12 fight that pitted several white Shenandoah teens against 25-year-old Luis Ramirez, who also was living the borough.President Judge William E. Baldwin found Scully delinquent and ordered him to spend 90 days in a treatment center.After that, the court will determine if Scully should spend additional time in detention. He could be kept in a detention center until he is 21. Scully was one of four charged in Ramirez's death in Shenandoah.Scully earlier had testified that he struck Ramirez and yelled racial slurs at him.Earlier this month, a jury convicted Brandon J. Piekarsky, 17, and Derrick M. Donchak, 19, of simple assault. Piekarsky was acquitted of third-degree murder, and Donchak was acquitted of aggravated assault. Both also were acquitted of ethnic intimidation. They await sentencing.Colin Walsh, 17, has pleaded guilty in federal court to violating Ramirez's civil rights and is awaiting sentencing. As a result, prosecutors dropped state charges including third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/health/19well.html?_r=1&hp

Judge rules family can't refuse chemo for 13-year-old son

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Minnesota judge ruled Friday that a 13-year-old cancer patient must be evaluated by a doctor to determine if the boy would benefit from restarting chemotherapy over his parents' objections.In a 58-page ruling, Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg found that Daniel Hauser has been "medically neglected" by his parents, Colleen and Anthony Hauser, and was in need of child protection services.While he allowed Daniel to stay with his parents, the judge gave the Hausers until Tuesday to get an updated chest X-ray for their son and select an oncologist.If the evaluation shows the cancer had advanced to a point where chemotherapy and radiation would no longer help, the judge said, he would not order the boy to undergo treatment.However, he said, if chemotherapy is ordered and the family still refuses, Daniel will be placed in temporary custody.
http://www.newsrunner.com/display-article/?eUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theworldlink.com%2Farticles%2F2009%2F05%2F17%2Fnews%2Fdoc4a0e5f2a0d0db915232931.txt&eSrc=The+World+Link+-+Coos+Bay%2C+OR&eTitle=Judge+rules+family+can%27t+refuse+chemo+for+13-year-old+son

Newly signed bills boost foster parent rights

Washington State--Some foster parent organizations hope that new laws and recent controversies will bring attention to their effort to secure more rights. The measure, House Bill 1782, allows courts to consider long absences by parents when deciding whether to end their visitation rights. Foster children removed from their parents’ home for a second time should be placed with foster parents they know, according to Senate Bill 5431, signed Thursday. “You need to look at homes where the child has spent the most time, and has affection. Attachment matters,” said Malkasian, president of the Foster Care Justice Alliance. Gregoire has ordered a review of the case after a judge questioned why the state would take the girl from the only home she has known. “I’m not here to find out what’s right for the department, what’s right for the court, or what’s right for foster parents,” she said. “It’s what’s right for the child that to me is paramount.”
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/851483.html

Egg Throwing Teens Face Felony Charges

SHAWNEE, Oklahoma -- Four Shawnee teens are facing serious charges for what they thought was a harmless prank.The teens, between 18 and 19-years-old, were taken to the Pottowatomie County jail after they were caught throwing eggs at cars and they now face felony charges. They think throwing eggs is a prank, but if you damage the paint on a car how many people in this day and age can afford a paint job?" said Shawnee Police Chief Russell Frantz. It's certainly not the first time, or last Shawnee police will deal with teenage pranks. But in Oklahoma, throwing or dropping an object, even an egg, at or from a moving vehicle is against the law and punishable. "They need to be held responsible for their actions," said Chief Frantz. The four teens now each face two felony charges. Robert Butler is representing the teens and thinks the charges are excessive.
http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=10349873

Celebrity Adoptions and the Real World

Madonna’s quest to adopt a second child — a 3-year-old girl — from Malawi has once again put the celebrity in the spotlight and stirred debate about international adoptions. Save the Children (U.K.) has said that the girl Madonna wants to adopt and children like her would be better off in their home countries, and that most children in orphanages have extended family. (A man claiming to be the father of the girl, Chifundo James known as Mercy, has come forward demanding custody.) This view of international adoption is also held by Unicef. http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/celebrity-adoptions-and-the-real-world/?ref=world

Lost boys of Swat flee for their lives as fighting rages

Twenty well-behaved boys sit on the floor in two rows, quietly eating a humble lunch of flat bread, water and beans. A moment of prayer and reflection for the orphans and one of their teachers. Their hair is neatly combed and they are dressed in spotless Pakistani shalwar kamiz long shirts and baggy trousers. These boys are orphans, and they are lucky to be alive.
"Sir, it was very dangerous," explained 15-year-old Mohammad Nawaz. Last Friday, Nawaz and his friends escaped from Pakistan's Swat Valley after their orphanage ended up on the front-line of the government's war with the Taliban.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/11/orphans.swat.taliban.pakistan/index.html

Iran moves to reduces number of executions

Iran wants to reduce the number of "unnecessary executions" it carries out, a spokesman for the Islamic republic's judiciary said. "Certain measures have been sent to parliament for approval. In particular, regarding cases involving unnecessary executions. We hope to see a reduction of such sentences," IRNA quoted him as saying. Iran has executed at least 140 people this year, according to Amnesty International. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch have been especially critical of Iran's execution of minors."Iran leads all countries of the world in executing juvenile offenders," the group said in a statement last week. "Figures available from human-rights lawyers in Iran indicate that at least 130 juvenile offenders are on death row in Iran. Two juvenile offenders have already been executed this year." http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/05/10/iran.executions.death.penalty/

Minority youngsters dying weekly on Chicago's streets....WHY R WE NOT OUTRAGED?

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- The Rev. Michael Pfleger has ordered the American flag at St. Sabina Church hung upside-down -- a historic sign of distress -- to symbolize the growing death toll among the city's youngsters. Alex Arellano was beaten, burned and shot in the head last week. He was 15. So far this school year, 36 children and teens have been murdered -- more than one a week -- and Pfleger is among a chorus of weary Chicagoans who say the slayings aren't getting the attention they deserve. Had 36 kids died of swine flu this year, "there would be this great influx of resources that say, 'Let's stop this, lets deal with this,' " Pfleger said. Instead, because violence is driving the epidemic, "We're hiding it. We're ignoring it. We're denying the problems," he said. Pfleger is not the first Chicagoan to express the sentiment. In 2007, after the city recorded 31 murdered children during the school year, Arne Duncan, then-CEO of public schools, expressed similar disappointment.
http://bit.ly/URTjv

Trying young teens as adults in Missouri?

Mike Hendricks’ column “Nobody’s an adult at the age of 13 or 14” (5/1, Local/National), hits the right chord in questioning the absurdity of legislative actions for immediate political necessity on juvenile justice. All around the globe, children are brutalized by poverty, abuse and war and are on death row for crimes they committed before the age of 18. There is a binding universal definition of the child, agreed by the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the most comprehensive piece of legislation for the betterment of children. CRC defines “child” as anyone under the age of 18. Since 2000, the Global and Multicultural Education Center in Kansas City has focused on making the Kansas City community a place fit for children with biennial educational conferences that advance the awareness of children’s rights. The culture of violence is so embedded in our daily life that society needs to accept a share of the blame. Children learn from violent video games, movies and television programs that sex, guns and violence have the societal seal of approval.
http://blogs.kansascity.com/unfettered_letters/2009/05/trying-young-teens-as-adults.html

New fight brews over UN treaty on children's rights

NEW YORK -- A global children's rights treaty, ratified by every United Nations member except the United States and Somalia, has so alarmed its American critics, led by a Michigan congressman, that some are now pushing to add a parental rights amendment to the Constitution as a buffer against it. The result is a feisty new twist to a long-running saga over the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The nearly 20-year-old treaty has ardent supporters and opponents in the United States, and both sides agree that its chances of ratification -- while still uncertain -- are better under the Obama administration than at any point in the past.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090430/NEWS07/904300565

High Court to Look at Life Sentences for Juveniles

The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will decide whether a 13-year-old convicted of rape must spend the rest of his life in prison, a new front in the court's examination of whether sentences suitable for adults may be applied to teenagers. The justices took two cases from Florida, one involving the 13-year-old and another involving a 17-year-old convicted in a home invasion, to decide whether the penalty of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole violates the Constitution's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments. The cases, which will be argued separately, are Sullivan v. Florida and Graham v. Florida. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/05/04/AR2009050403607.html

White teens aquitted of murder of Mexican man---WTF

Teens acquitted of murder, aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation. Many advocacy groups say that the Verdict sends "extremely dangerous" precedent. Schuylkill County prosecutors alleged the beating was racially motivated but all white PA jury thought otherwise.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/02/pa.immigrant.beating/index.html

DC Lawyer’s Remark About Wanting a Girl Spurs Parental Fitness Probe

A Washington, D.C., lawyer remarked to her doctor soon after the birth of her son that she had been hoping for a girl. Karen Piper, a lawyer with the U.S. Department of the Interior, would soon regret the words, columnist Marc Fisher writes for the Washington Post. Piper was not allowed to bring her son, Luke, home, supposedly because she had failed to bond with the boy.
“Like too many parents before her, Piper had fallen into the rigid, overlawyered maw of a child protection system that substitutes mandatory reporting for the judgment and human sensitivity medical professionals should exercise,” Fisher writes. For three days, Piper, a single mother, had to contend with lawyers, investigators and hospital workers. One social worker wanted to know the details of Luke’s conception. A psychiatric intern wanted Piper to spell "world" backward. After the probe, Piper was allowed to keep her child. Child welfare officials said they got involved after hospital officials reported concern.
http://www.abajournal.com/news/dc_lawyers_remark_about_wanting_a_boy_spurs_fitness_probe/

Saudi girl granted divorce

CNN) -- A court in Saudi Arabia has granted an 8-year-old girl a divorce from her 47-year-old husband, after twice denying the divorce request previously, local media reported Thursday.
The marriage sparked condemnations around the world from human rights groups and U.S. and other government officials when it first came to light in December.
Local media, which is highly regulated by the Saudi government, reported that the court in the city of Onaiza approved the divorce decree Thursday, and the divorce is final.
A source at the court told the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan that the divorce "came after a series of pleas made by a number of officials in the region to the husband."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/04/30/saudi.child/index.html

NE Foster Care Review Board can conduct warrantless visits

Nebraska Supreme Court agrees with a district court’s decision which allows the Nebraska Foster Care Review Board to conduct warrantless visits and observation of foster care facilities to ascertain whether they are meeting the needs of foster children. The Court sets out that to the extent constitutional rights may be implicated by home visits to foster care facilities, they agreed with the district court that the visits should be judged under a general standard of reasonableness which courts have applied when special governmental needs, beyond the normal need for law enforcement, justify a departure from the requirements of individualized suspicion, warrants, and probable cause under traditional Fourth Amendment analysis.
Omni v. Nebraska Foster Care Review Bd., 277 Neb. 641 (2009)
Filed April 23, 2009. No. S-08-332.

Killer at 16, and Still in California’s Juvenile Justice System Decades Later

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Except for one detail and one horrifying crime, Donald Schmidt is a run-of-the-mill juvenile offender. He watches television, does chores, talks to his lawyer and waits for his release. Donald Schmidt, 37, molested and drowned a 3-year-old girl. The detail is his age: Mr. Schmidt is 37, the oldest defendant ever in California’s juvenile justice system. Just 16 when he molested and drowned a 3-year-old girl while high on methamphetamine, he has been in juvenile facilities for two decades, sometimes alongside teenagers who were not yet born when he was convicted. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/us/26juvenile.html?_r=1

Suit claims abuse, filth at juvenile detention center

(CNN) -- Juveniles held in a Mississippi detention center are subject to "horrific physical and mental abuse" at an insect-ridden, filthy facility, alleges a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
The suit, filed by the Mississippi Youth Justice Project and Mississippi Protection and Advocacy Inc., accuses staff at the privately-managed Harrison County Juvenile Detention Center of "punitive shackling, staff-on-youth assaults, 23-hour-a-day lock-down in filthy jail cells, unsanitary conditions resulting in widespread contraction of scabies and staph infections, dangerous overcrowding that forces many youth to sleep on the concrete floor, and inadequate mental health care." The facility is is operated by Mississippi Security Police, a private security corporation based in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The company is paid $1.6 million yearly by Harrison County to manage the juvenile center, according to the lawsuit, which names the county as a defendant.
http://u.nu/53f

Guard convicted in boy's beating at juvenile hall

LOS ANGELES—A former juvenile hall guard has been convicted of child abuse for letting five minors beat a boy she wrongly believed had taken her cell phone. Deputy District Attorney Natalie Adomian said Tuesday that jurors deliberated for two hours before convicting Diane Buchanan on Friday of three felony counts. She is scheduled for sentencing May 27 and faces up to six years in prison. In May 2005 Buchanan lost her cell phone at the Sylmar juvenile hall. Another boy at the facility said the victim had flushed the phone down a toilet. Prosecutors say Buchanan opened the victim's cell door and let in five boys to attack him. Buchanan did not report the incident or seek medical help for the victim. She later found her cell phone in her car.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12197967?nclick_check=1

Report: Kudos to Grant County juvenile defense

EPHRATA, Wash. —
Just one child in Grant County pleaded guilty last year at an initial court appearance before having an attorney. Two years ago, 93 juveniles arrested for crimes there did so.
Those improvements in the juvenile defense program were one of the bright spots in a 2008 status report on public defense in Washington. The report found that cities and counties have made significant improvements in public defense programs. Joanne Moore, director of the state Office of Public Defense, says that in Grant County, many of those juveniles were able to participate in treatment and counseling programs. They also received deferred sentences in many cases, instead of detention.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009105322_apwapublicdefenders.html

A success story from the streets

ISTANBUL -Growing up on the streets of Istanbul has proven to be the best education for a man who now devotes his time to assisting street children.Yusuf Ahmet Kulca spent his time on Istanbul’s streets as a young boy. He survived and has gone on to become a leading figure in the rescue and rehabilitation of kids who live on the street. When the Daily News & Economic Review asked him about Children’s Day, he said: "There is a document concerning it from 1929. 4,000 children wrote a petition to Parliament, asking for the provision of equal food; the spread of the children’s assembly; a law to prevent children; a law to prevent children from working as porters; and the provision of shelters for children sleeping on the streets." "On April 23, we celebrate a holiday that Atatürk gave as a gift to children. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/11492702.asp?gid=244

Some ask why no Amber Alert issued for missing Sandra Cantu

The murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu in Tracy, California, has brought America's Amber Alert program under the microscope. Sandra vanished in broad daylight on March 27.
Surveillance video from that afternoon showed her happily skipping to go play at her friend's house. After she failed to return home, her family alerted the authorities, but an Amber Alert was not issued. Ten days later, Sandra's body was found stuffed inside a piece of luggage in an irrigation ditch near her home. The frantic search for the killer may be over, as police arrested Melissa Huckaby on April 10 and charged her with murder.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/21/velez.mitchell.amber/index.html

Rubina Ali's Dad Denies Trying to Sell 'Millionaire' Actress Child

Just as Rafiq Qureshi's denial about a report claiming he tried to sell his actress daughter made its rounds, the 'Slumdog Millionaire' story gets even stranger as Rubina Ali's mother and step-mother got into a full-on fistfight with photographers there to catch every blow.
http://bit.ly/9kgHr

ACLU of Montana Defends Parents’ and Children’s Rights

The Montana Supreme Court heard oral arguments last Friday on a legal appeal that could set precedent for whether children have a right to maintain relationships with both their parents after a break-up. “We are in court today to guarantee that the two children Michelle Kulstad and Barbara Maniaci raised together are able to have a relationship with both of their parents,” said American Civil Liberties Union of Montana Legal Director Betsy Griffing. “It would be cruel to these children if they were barred from spending time with Michelle and from continuing to receive the love and support she has shown them since they entered her home. We hope this case establishes a precedent that a biological or adoptive parent cannot shut out a co-parent’s relationship with their children simply because it has become inconvenient.” The Montana District Court ruled last fall that Kulstad was entitled to joint custody of the two children she raised with former partner Maniaci. Maniaci appealed the decision, bringing the case to the Supreme Court.
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=92845

It is about time---Saudi official moves to regulate child marriages

Days after a Saudi judge upheld the marriage of an 8-year-old girl to a man 39 years her senior and blocked a divorce, the kingdom's justice minister said he plans to enact a law that will protect young girls from such marriages, according to local media reports. The law will place restrictions on the practice to preserve the rights of children and prevent abuses, Justice Minister Mohammed Al-Issa told Al-Watan, a daily newspaper in Saudi Arabia, where all newspapers require government permission to publish. Al-Issa said there would be a study of a system that will include regulations for the marriage of minors and everything related to such unions, the newspaper reported. No details on the restrictions or regulations were mentioned.
The minister did not say whether child marriage would be abolished.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/04/15/saudi.child.bride/