1.  Juries are more representative of the community.  When I started trying cases before juries, they were selected from property owners and driver’s license records.  The result was juries of older, white people who generally lived in the suburbs.  Over the years. the local government has worked hard to pick people from other records.  The result has been jurors who are very diverse in all ways and more truly represent the community—which improves the criminal justice system.
2. When I started, there was hardly any attention paid to the female victims of domestic abuse.  Since then, the criminal justice system has developed new laws specifically aimed at punishing offenders and has also created many resources for the victims from victim/witness advocates to shelter protection and counseling for the victims.  This is another reason why the criminal justice system in better now.
3. The judges hearing cases were all older, male, and white with the exception of two white women.  Today, every race is represented, women, men, and different religions.  The more accurately represent the community.
4. Child protection used to be a minor, back-wash area of the juvenile court.  Parents didn’t even get lawyers if they couldn’t afford to hire their own.  Today, the parents and even children over 10 get free lawyers and the number of child protection cases brought into the criminal justice system has sky-rocketed.  The resources available for parents and children has expanded and has been successful in many cases to improve the criminal justice system.
5. The quality of judges is high.  Here’s another reason why the criminal justice system is better now.  In Minnesota, almost all judges are selected by the governor after a lengthy vetting process by a state-wide judicial selections board.  The result has been high quality candidates and little corruption.

When the media or people complain about the criminal justice system, there certainly are areas that could be improved.  On the other hand, these reasons are why the criminal justice system is better now that it has been in years.

If you’ve been to court, what’s your experience been?  What do you think?

The post Why the Criminal Justice System is Better Now appeared first on Colin T. Nelson.

What’s going on?  Are children in more danger than ever of wide spread abuse, neglect, or worse?

I have worked for years on these cases as a lawyer and have some ideas.  Here are three that may make a difference:

1.  People don’t realize that the laws in most states require the courts in child protection cases, to try any and everything in order to keep a family together.  There are moral and practical reasons for this.  Of course, most kids do best in a family of origin that loves them and has an extended family to help.  Practically, it”s much cheaper for the taxpayers to allow the family to pay for the child’s upbringing.  If a child is removed, he will probably end up in a foster home—which costs the local governments thousands of dollars a year in support.  Even if the parent is questionable, the courts are required to offer a case plan to the parent in an effort to change their behavior so that the child will be safe and nurtured in the home.  It is only in the extreme situation that a termination of parental rights will be decided.
2. For years, the media and public have pushed for more oversight of child protection issues.  At the same time, the public has asked that taxes be cut to local governments.  The result is a severe shortage of qualified social workers in the child protection area.  The ones who work there are swamped with case and, at best, are able to attend to only the worst cases and to simply put out fires in the rest of the cases.
3. A strong Guardian ad Litem program is essential.  These are, for the most part, trained volunteers who are assigned to take on the case of a child in the system.  The Guardian’s job is to check on the child’s welfare and report back to the court about concerns or failures on the part of either the parents or the government.  Like the social workers, they are under-funded and over worked with huge case loads.

Cutting back on taxes and government services is fine . . .  but then don’t expect that these same government workers will have the time and energy to sufficiently protect the children they are responsible for.

The post Problems with Child Protection Courts appeared first on Colin T. Nelson.

1.  It’s common for accused people to plead Not Guilty early in the case.  The person (and everyone else) may know they’re guilty, but will use the Not Guilty plea to stall the case.  It’s a formality to buy time for the defense.

2.  Adrian Peterson may really think he’s not guilty.  Although the case is in Texas, the law is similar to that in Minnesota.  It says:

“Assault in the 2nd Degree.  (a)  Whoever assault another with a dangerous weapon may be sent to prison for not more than seven years.  (b) Whoever assaults another with a dangerous weapon and inflicts substantially bodily harm may be imprisoned for not more than ten years.”

The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt two things in Adrian Peterson’s case:

a.  That he injured the child and caused harm

b.  That he intended to cause the harm (In other words, it wasn’t an accident)

During the brief interviews Adrian Peterson has given, he’s mentioned that he’s not guilty because he didn’t intend to harm the child.  Instead, he intended to discipline the child.  Personally, I think this will be a tough defense for Adrian Peterson.  How can a person strike a four year old with a stick and cause cuts and bruises to the child’s lower legs, buttocks, lower back, and on his hand (a wound caused by the child trying to defend himself)—and not intend or know that physical harm will be the result???

3.  The penalty for Adrian Peterson if he’s found guilty of the charge is commitment to prison.  Maybe Adrian Peterson and his lawyer are negotiating a future guilty plea in return for probation instead of prison.  In order to buy time for this process, Adrian Peterson has to plead Not Guilty.

4.  In Minnesota, Adrian Peterson is working through a case plan in a child protection case involving the same victim.  It probably includes anger management, counseling, and parenting education with recommendations for further treatment.  If Adrian Peterson can accomplish these goals, he may be able to negotiate a settlement of the criminal case in Texas.  In light of completing the case plan, the prosecution in Texas may agree to probation for Adrian Peterson instead of prison—at which time Adrian Peterson could change his plea to guilty.

The post Is Adrian Peterson Really Not Guilty? appeared first on Colin T. Nelson.

What does that mean?  What happens now?

1.  The government may open a child protection case whenever there’s a serious allegation that a child needs protection or services from a parent.  Clearly, physical abuse by Adrian Peterson would qualify for opening a case.  It’s not a criminal case.  It’s not to find the parent guilty or not guilty of abuse.  The purpose is to change the parent’s behavior in order to reunify the family and assure the child will be safe.

2.  After the case opens, Adrian Peterson and the mother would be given a case plan to complete.  Typically, this would include parenting education and anger management, for instance.  The judge can order no contact between the parents and the child to further protect the child.  Visitation could occur under supervised conditions.  If the parents complete the case plan, the child could be reunited with them and the child protection case dismissed.

3.  Is Adrian Peterson the custodial parent?  He has several other children with several other women.  I don’t know if Adrian Peterson is the custodial parent of the 4-year old.  If he’s not, then it may be unfair to the mother (the custodial parent) to have a child protection case opened if she is providing adequate care for the child.

4.  However, if Adrian Peterson abused the child and the mother didn’t take protective steps—remove the child, report to police, doctors, etc, she could be included in the child protection case.

5.  Problem—if Adrian Peterson is not the custodial parent, why did the Minnesota prosecutor file the child protection case?  The Texas court has probably ordered no contact between Adrian Peterson and the child.  But that order is only effective in the state of Texas.  It would not prohibit contact in Minnesota.  Now, that the child protection case has been filed in Minnesota, a judge could prevent contact for the child’s safety.

6.  What can happen next?  The parents will receive a case plan.  The sooner they can complete that plan and convince a judge the child would be safe in their custody, reunification could occur.

It’s a sad event for everyone.  At least the child will receive the protection he deserves and the parents will be given help to become better, safer parents.

The post Adrian Peterson and Child Protection appeared first on Colin T. Nelson.

ALONE!

His parents thought he’d spent the night at a friend’s house and didn’t discover he was gone until the next morning when the boy showed-up in Las Vegas.  When the father was interviewed, he put a black stocking cap over his head to hide his identity and told the media that his son “had behavior problems.”

I guess so.  The boy was returned a few days later to the Twin Cities and his family.  It turns out the boy also had some delinquency issues although at nine, the state doesn’t prosecute kids that young.  The parents claimed they had asked the schools and the government for help with his problems but never received any assistance.

What happens now?

Since the boy is under ten years old, his case will be treated as a child protection matter.  In Hennepin County where he lives, the prosecutor has filed a Petition alleging that he is a Child in Need of Protection and/or Services.  (The acronym is CHIPS)  The family made a court appearance last week and the judge removed the child from their care temporarily.

What happens in a CHIPS case?

Facts must be alleged that will give the judge some evidence that the child is in need of protection or services.  Common allegations may be of violence toward the child, abandonment, the chemical dependency of the parents, the mental health of the parents, and other illegal activities the parents may be involved in that would jeopardize the welfare of the child.  It’s not a criminal case so no one is going to be found guilty of “bad parenting.”  Once the case is filed, the parents have a choice to fight the allegations at a trial or accept a Case Plan from the social workers involved in the case.

In my experienced with these cases, the majority of parents accept the case plan and begin working on it.  Typically, these plans will include activities that the social workers think will restore the family to a position where the child is not in danger.  Here’s a list of some of the common requirements:

–chemical dependency treatment

–mental health assessments and recommendations

–parenting assessments and recommendations

–anger management classes

–therapy, both individual and family

If the parents complete the case plan, they will be reunited with their child.  Often, the child must also go through a case plan of therapy or health related issues.  If the parents don’t complete it, they eventually risk losing their parental rights forever.

The case in Minneapolis has just begun.  The case plan for those parents included parenting assessments, therapy for the family, and assessments of the child also.  I’ll keep you up to date on the progress of the case.

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