1. Juvenile Court Journal: Taking a tangled path home
Three-quarters of child welfare cases involve addiction, making juvenile
court more
about drug abuse than child abuse
Sunday, October 12, 2003
By Barbara White Stack, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20031012tangela1012p3.asp
2. Juvenile Court Journal: Taking a tangled path home / Part Two
An addict's recovery can mean defeat for a family
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20031013tangelalocal2p2.asp
3. Readin', writin', 'rithmetic, probation
Pennsylvania blazes trail in growing school-based probation-officer systems
Sunday, April 11, 2004
By Barbara White Stack, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
For six months, hulking Mark Johnson and tiny Ryan Terry kept constant
company.
Hardly best buddies, the two were bonded by court order after Ryan, then 11,
and
three friends beat up another student on a school bus.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04102/298757.stm
4. Juvenile Court Journal: Teens often left behind
First in an occasional series
Sunday, February 10, 2002
By Barbara White Stack, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Melody Carter was abandoned when she was one month shy of 11. Her mother knew
that a preteen was hardly as darling as a newborn in a basket, so instead of
dropping Melody on a doorstep, she left her on the stoop of an agency that
couldn't reject her -- Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and
Families.
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20020210juvenile0210p2.asp
5. School Search Case Law and reasoning
http://www.k9fleck.org/nlu08.htm
6. Student Drug Testing (Pennsylvania Supreme Court)
Theodore et al., Appellees v. The Deleware Valley School District
http://www.studentdrugtesting.org/Theodore%20v%20Delaware%20Valley%20SD.PDF
7. Juvenile Justice: A Century of Change
Contents:
The juvenile justice system was founded on the concept of rehabilitation
through individualized justice
U.S. Supreme Court cases have had an impact on the character and procedures
of the juvenile justice system
State statutes define who is under the jurisdiction of juvenile court
The juvenile justice system differs from the criminal justice system, but
there is common ground
All States allow juveniles to be tried as adults in criminal court under
certain circumstances
New laws have had a dramatic impact on sentencing for serious or violent
juvenile offenders
http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/9912_2/contents.html
Frequently Asked Questions About Juveniles In Court
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/html/COURT.html
Frontline: Juvenile Justice
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/
8. OJJDP/ Juvenile Crime
http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/nrs_bulletin/nrs_2001_12_1/contents.html
9. Cornell/ Juvenile Justice Today
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/juvenile.html
10. Frontline: Juvenile Justice
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/
Nathaniel Brazill would have graduated from high school this week. (discussed
10/10)
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2005/05/22/c1a_brazill_0522.html
South Carolina V Christopher Pittman
http://www.courttv.com/trials/pittman/
FREE CHRISTOPHER PITTMAN! We will NEVER rest, until you are home!
http://www.christopherpittman.org/
This page is about the nation's juvenile population who are involved with
criminal justice agencies or social system affiliates. It begins with a
glossary of terms in Juvenile Law, and then provides some short answers to
typical questions. Toward the end of this page, there is an alphabetical list
of Internet resources that may be helpful to people researching juvenile
topics.
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/juvjusp.htm
Juveniles and the Death Penalty
http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=463
THE JUVENILE DEATH PENALTY
Background, analysis and critical thinking
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/socialstudies/juvenile_deathpenalty.html
Florida v. Miller, Cole, and Baillie
"The Stop Sign Case"
Have you ever pulled a prank that, at the time, you thought was funny and
cool, but its ramifications ended up being more than you expected?
That was exactly the case for Thomas Miller, Christopher Cole, and Nissa
Baillie. In late January 1996, the three teens had gone on a vandalization
spree that involved pulling out and knocking down stop signs throughout their
neighborhood.
On the night of February 7, 1996, a fully loaded semi-truck plowed into a
white Camaro that drove through a major Tampa, Florida intersection without
stopping. The stop sign at the intersection, which may have prevented the
accident, had been knocked down. The Camaro was crushed and it's passengers,
three 18-year old boys, Randall White, Kevin Farr, and Brian Hernandez, were
all killed instantly.
The authorities initially thought that the accident resulted from drunk
driving, but the alcohol blood tests on both drivers disproved that theory.
When police took their investigation in another direction and retraced the
path of each vehicle, they discovered the fallen stop sign.
Police soon learned about Miller, Cole, and Baillie, and their street sign
collection. When, questioned about the accident by police, the trio admitted
to pulling down and knocking over several stop signs, but vehemently denied
touching the sign in question.
Kevin Farr, Randall White, and Brian Hernandez were killed instantly in the
accident.
In Florida, any tampering of traffic signs, indicators or postings -- which
are considered state property -- is considered a felony and could be
punishable at the very minimum, with a fine. However, because their vandalism
allegedly caused a fatal accident, Miller, Cole, and Baillie were each
charged with manslaughter.
In May and June 1997, Miller, Cole, and Baillie were convicted of three
counts of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Several members
of the Tampa community were outraged by the apparent severity of the
sentence, and a subsequent motion for a new trial was denied. Now, the three
teens are once again asking for a retrial or an acquittal, claiming that
prosecutors withheld evidence that would have helped prove their innocence at
trial. The defense for Miller, Cole, and Baillie also say that the teens did
not receive a fair trial because the prosecution allegedly knowingly used
perjured testimony in their case.
New Evidence and Alleged Prosecution Misconduct
During the 1997 trial, the state argued Miller, Cole, and Baillie knocked
down the stop sign in question during one of their sign-stealing sprees.
Prosecutors believed that the sign was still standing days before the
accident and was knocked down the night before. However, since the
conviction, several new witnesses have merged who claim that the stop sign in
question was down long before the fatal accident.
The defense claims that prosecutors knew about and purposely failed to
disclose some of this exculpatory evidence from these four potential
witnesses at trial. Prosecutors, the defense suggests, never listed these
people as witnesses because their testimony contradicted the state's theory
about the fatal accident. According to the defense, these witnesses tried to
contact state investigators in 1996 and 1997 but were eventually rebuffed.
These witnesses include:
Jeffrey Brewster - Brewster was a pipeline inspector who examined a gas line
at the intersection where the accident occurred on the day of the incident.
He claims that he contacted the State Attorney's Office around the end of May
1997 and explained to prosecutor Leland Baldwin and her paralegal Sally
Blevins that the stop sign was down at least three days prior to the
accident. According to Brewster, his he was rebuffed and ignored by Blevins
and Baldwin.
Martha Gehrig - Gehrig is a local resident who says that she spoke to
Hillsborough County Deputy Sheriff Ron Bradish in the spring of 1996 and told
him that the sign was down Feb. 5, 1996, two days before the accident.
Bradish allegedly told Gehrig that he had solved the crime and did not care
what she had to say. According to Gehrig, the deputy allegedly said, "I'm
gonna get those kids!"
Melissa and Richard Davis - The Davises drove by the intersection four days
before the fatal accident and claim the stop sign was down at that time.
Melissa says she reported the downed sign to the Hillsborough County Road
Department on February 5; she also claims she told a deputy about the sign on
February 8.
Defense lawyers believe that had the jurors heard this testimony from these
witnesses, they may not have convicted the three teens. In addition to hiding
evidence, the defense claims that prosecutors forced one of their key
witnesses to lie at trial to fit their theory about the accident. At their
original motion for a new trial in June 1997, defense lawyers argued
unsuccessfully that prosecutors threatened Larry Jarrard, a friend of the
defendants, into lying on the stand by threatening to prosecute him for
helping them dispose of their stop sign collection after the accident.
At the hearing, Jarrard testified that prosecutor Baldwin forced him to lie
and support the state's timeline in the case. He claimed that the prosecutors
had bullied him, cursed at him, and forced him to shape his testimony.
(Baldwin and the prosecution have denied these allegations.) During the
trial, Jarrard said that one of the defendants told him that they took
various stop signs the night before the accident. However, he recanted his
testimony after the verdict on May 16, 1997. At the motion for a retrial in
June 1997, Jarrard claimed he actually did not know when the defendants went
on a sign-stealing spree. Judge Bob Anderson Mitcham, who will preside over
this post-conviction hearing, rejected Jarrard's testimony at last year's
hearing, but the defense believes it should be reconsidered because of the
new evidence in the case. (In addition, Baldwin has withdrawn as the lead
prosecutor in the case because she is witness at the hearing.)
Since their sentencing on June 20, 1997, Miller, Cole, and Baillie have been
free on bond. Judge Mitcham is expected to issue his ruling on the petition
for a new trial on Sept. 11, 1998.
On February 28, 2001 a Florida appellate court overturned the convictions of
Christopher Cole, Nissa Baillie and Thomas Miller. As of March 9, 2001, two
of the defendants were out on bail pending the decision by the prosecutor to
proceed with a new trial. Only one remains incarcerated on an unrelated drug
charge.
The defendants won the appeal on the grounds that, among other things, the
jury was tainted by the prosecutions disparaging characterizations of the
defandants, incorrect characterization of one witness� expertise and
misquoted testimony.
http://www.courttv.com/archive/trials/stopsign/index.html
A Chilling Crime and a Question: What's in a Child's Mind?
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/19980816monday.html
When Kids Commit Crimes
What's a Fair Sentence?
http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=540
Boy Who Killed Teacher Is Found Guilty of Murder
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20010518friday.html
12.Here is Gary Well's web site
http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/gwells/homepage.htm
13. Take Gary Well's test. Would you make a good eyewitness witness?
http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/gwells/theeyewitnesstest.html
High court reconsidering execution of minors
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/10/06/colb.juvenile/
Bill of Rights Institute Juvenile Executions Declared Unconstitutional
http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/instructional/resources/Lessons/Lessons_List.asp?action=showDetails&id=71&ref=showCatD&catId=6
Excerpts From Opinions on Juvenile Death Penalty
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/02/politics/02stext.html?ex=1167800400&en=2c917fbfa3dac2e7&ei=5070
Cruel and Unusual Punishment for Minors
http://www.constitutioncenter.org/education/ForEducators/DiscussionStarters/CruelandUnusualPunishmentforMinors.shtml
Pennsylvania's Juvenile Justice System
This fact sheet answers common questions about Pennsylvania�s juvenile
justice system. It does not, however, cover issues related to the transfer of
juveniles to and from the adult system. In general, children between the ages
of 10 and 21 who commit delinquent acts prior to their 18th birthday are
within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
http://www.jlc.org/index.php/factsheets/pajj
Juvenile Justice system word Search
http://www.teacherweb.com/PA/NorthAlleghenyHighschool/MrSagan/JuvenileJusticeSystem.htm