Category: News

The USC Post-Conviction Justice Project and PJDC will be co-sponsoring a Juvenile LWOP Sentencing Forum to discuss sentencing hearings for juvenile offenders under Penal Code 190.5 after Guttierez and SB 9 Amendments to Penal Code 1170(d)(2). It will be an all-day event on Friday, June 19, 2015, from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm at the …

In T.W., A144528, a published decision, the First District held Proposition 47’s “retroactive resentencing provision” applies to negotiated dispositions in delinquency cases. Enacted through Proposition 47, Penal Code Section 1170.18 allows juveniles to petition for resentencing or a reduction of sentence. The District Attorney argued that Section 1170.18 does not apply to prior plea dispositions …

Patti Lee has been a powerful force in juvenile justice reform for over thirty years. A tireless advocate for the fair and humane treatment of youth, Patti began representing young clients in 1981 in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Juvenile Division, where she currently serves as the managing attorney.

Patti Lee’s leadership in promoting …

Art T, B251083, holds: 13-year-old boy’s statement—“Could I have an attorney? Because that’s not me”—made during the course of a custodial interrogation after watching a video of a shooting was an unequivocal and unambiguous invocation of his rights under Miranda.

What’s great about this case is it extends J.D.B.’s reasonable child standard in the context …

In Khalid B., A140708, a published decision, the First District found the juvenile court abused its discretion by imposing an out-of-state placement because there was no substantial evidence in-state facilities were unavailable or inadequate to meet child’s needs.  Congratulations Jeremy Price!

Here is the opinion: http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A140708.PDF…

On Friday, September 26, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 2607 into law.  This legislation, introduced by Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, provides additional protection to foster youth who “cross over” into the juvenile justice system.  AB 2607 provides that foster children must never receive more punitive treatment than other minors in the delinquency system by being …

On September 27, 2014, Governor Brown signed into law AB 1276.  The new law will require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to conduct committee-based, specialized review of each person under age 22 entering prison to consider placing them at a lower security level facility with increased access to educational and self-help programs.

This …

On August 22, 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law SB 1038, which provides the automatic sealing of juvenile records in cases where the youthful offender successfully completes all court-imposed sanctions. Existing law already allows for the sealing of non-violent juvenile records, but requires a young person to petition the court in order to initiate …

On June  27, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed in law  SB 1296 (Leno), outlawing incarceration as a contempt sanction for youth adjudicated as truants (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 601).  In re Michael G. (1988) 44 Cal.3d 283, a Lucas court decision, had carved out an exception to statutes expressly prohibiting confinement for section 601 …

In In re Luis M., S207314, the City of Lancaster averaged costs of graffiti cleanup to determine the child’s restitution award. In a unanimous opinion on June 19, 2014, California’s highest court rejected this approach, reaffirming the long standing principal that restitution under Welfare and Institutions Code section 730.6 “must have some factual nexus …