Upcoming Trainings
- November 20, 2009: The Juvenile Justice Initiative Presents Children in Adult Court. Please join the Juvenile Justice Initiative for an afternoon course on Children in Adult Court. Participants will learn about the different ways children are prosecuted as adults and advocacy efforts regarding adult prosecution in Illinois and across the country. Participants will also learn about children serving Life without the Possibility of Parole. To learn more about the event and register please click on Children in Adult Court.
Upcoming Events
- Friday, November 20, 2009: United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Conference. The Committee for the Ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the child invites you to a conference celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the passage of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Please click on the registration form for more information about this event and to register.
- Senate Bill 1725 Passed: During the legislative Veto Session, Senate Bill 1725 was given final approval and is now law. The bill lays the groundwork for parole reforms by providing that: The Department of Human Services shall develop recommendations to ensure the effective reintegration of youth offenders into the communities to which they are returning and shall advise and assist the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission, utilizing information provided by the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Prisoner Review Board, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, and any other relevant State agency, to develop by Sept. 30, 2010, a report on juveniles who have been the subject of a parole revocation within the past year in Illinois.
- Minor's PLA granted in In re Veronica C. (OSAD attorney Steve Wiltgen) -- raised separation of powers and equal protection challenges to Section 5-615 of the Juvenile Court Act, which prohibits trial courts from imposing supervision if the State objects.
- State PLA granted in In re Luis R. (private counsel) -- appellate court found in a not-yet-released-for-publication opinion that the trial court had no jurisdiction to entertain a delinquency petition, because the accused had turned 21 by the time the petition was filed and thus was outside the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The appellate court opined in dicta that the Act could be interpreted in a manner to permit criminal prosecutions under some circumstances.
US Congress holds a hearing on the Sex Offender Registration & Notification Act (SORNA)
Make your voice heard. Call Congress today. (click on the link above for more information.)
Chicago City Council passed a resolution of support for the Convention on the Rights of the Child
On February 11, 2009 the Chicago City Council passed a resolution of support for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, agreeing to "advance policies and practices that are in harmony with the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in all city agencies and organizations that address issues directly affecting the City's children." This was the result of a year-long collaboration between the Center for International Human Rights and the Children and Family Justice Center both of the Bluhm Legal Clinic of Northwestern School of Law. This work was part of a national effort to build grassroots support for human rights treaties and to put additional pressure on the federal government to ratify the CRC, which has been ratified by every country in the world except the U.S. and Somalia.
The Illinois Juvenile Defender Practice Notebook
In December 2008 the Children and Family Justice Center of the Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern School of Law and the National Juvenile Defender Center released the Illinois Juvenile Defender Practice Notebook as a resource for Illinois juvenile defenders who practice in one of the most rewarding and yet challenging areas of law-juvenile defense. This notebook was made possible by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change Systems Reform in Juvenile Justice.
Senate Bill 2275
On February 10, 2009 Governor Quinn passed SB 2275 which (a) extends juvenile court jurisdiction to anyone accused of committing a misdemeanor before the age of 18 (as opposed to 17), and (b) establishes a committee to study whether juvenile jurisdiction ought to apply to those who commit felonies before their 18th birthday. This bill will go into effect on January 1, 2010.
Senate Bill 2118
Senate Bill 2118 went into effect on January 1, 2009. SB 2118 provides that a detention hearing may not be held until the child has had an adequate opportunity to consult with an attorney. SB 2118 also allows the attorney to toll the 40 hour time limit for the detention hearing in order to prepare for the detention hearing. However the attorney must file a motion with the court to toll the time.
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