Several state senators successfully delayed a bill Friday that would make sure juveniles and their parents know and understand they can be represented by an attorney in court.
The bill (LB231), introduced by Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, was filibustered by a small group of senators led by Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte. It had its three hours of debate, and then the Legislature moved on to another bill without a first-round vote, as is the practice established by Speaker Jim Scheer.Ìý
The bill can return to debate if Pansing Brooks can show she has 33 votes to force a vote on the bill. The senator said she had 32 of those votes and will be seeking one more commitment so the bill can return.
It would establish that, at the first court appearance, the court must tell the juvenile and his or her parents or guardian of the juvenile's right to continued representation by an attorney. It also creates the Juvenile Indigent Defense Fund to assist counties in fulfilling their obligation to provide for effective assistance.
People are also reading…
Pansing Brooks said almost all judges will ask a juvenile if she or he wants to waive their right to an attorney.Ìý
"But the other duty is to ascertain that the waiver is knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily given," she said. "They have to know what they're doing."
To the opponents of the bill, she said things have changed significantly in this country since senators who are over 50 were children.Ìý
"We've got more zero-tolerance policies," she said.
The old theory that, "Oh, kids just need to buck up," she said, just no longer applies. Using the judge as a disciplinary supplement to the parental role is: No. 1 expensive, No. 2 illegal, and No. 3 not paying attention to the long-term repercussions to a child who has a good chance of being placed out of home or in detention as a result.Ìý
She has heard of kids being put into the youth rehabilitation centers for "pretty minor crimes," she said.
Kids can be subjected to solitary confinement in YRTCs and it's not always just the worst kids being placed in confinement or out-of-home detention, she added.
"Sometimes the parents are upset and don't even want to deal with the kid anymore," she said. "So should that child wander the abyss on their own 'cause the parent's mad at them?"Â
Groene said there are safeguards in the system that protect a person's right to an attorney, or the right not to have representation. A judge will determine if the juvenile is competent to make that decision, then can ask the parents, then decide if the judge should appoint an attorney, he said.Ìý
"This bill takes away a juvenile's right not to have counsel, period," he said.Ìý
In previous debates, he has said the bill would require many families to have to pay attorney fees when the youth and family just want to accept the consequences and move on.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Steve Lathrop of Omaha said in these cases, there are other lawyers present: the prosecutor and the judge, for starters. Everybody in the room knows the law except the juvenile who's about to face a proceeding, he said.Ìý
That first appearance where waivers and pleas take place sets the stage and opens the door to additional hearings and requirements.Ìý
This bill, he said, just levels the playing field.
Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne, an attorney whose practice includes juvenile cases, said most parents don't know the difference between an adjudication, which is civil in nature, and a conviction.Ìý
But the reality, he said, is that when a 16-year-old has been adjudicated and then applies for a job that asks if he or she has been convicted of a crime, they check the box yes.Ìý
Here's why they need an attorney, he said. If a 16-year-old is charged with stealing a candy bar, a theft charge, they cannot get a job at most McDonald's around this state. An insurance company does not want a person who has a theft conviction handling cash.Ìý
An attorney will look at the facts and negotiate with the prosecutor for a lesser or different charge that will allow the juvenile to be able to get a job in the future.Ìý
Those consequences are not explained to youths and parents when they are asked if they want to waive representation by an attorney.Ìý
That is why that advice is needed up front, Wayne said.