The kids = all right

I'm in week 3 of an extended rotation at Juvy, and not minding it at all. I think it was Hans Christian Andersen, or was it Peachy, who said,

I may well be taking over the Juvenile calendar... the ones who are left didn't want it... I think I'm the best one suited for it in the office. They're all worried about losing their bite, since Juvenile focuses a lot more on compromise and is a lot less confrontational. For me, as much as I love being competitive in the courtroom, at my heart I am a compromising kind of person.

This may well make me a lot less marketable. But who becomes a public defender because they want to be marketable?

Quite right. I think the change agrees with me, for some of those same reasons. I've done my murders back in Idaho, and my fair share of jury trials here, so I don't think I have to prove that I can bite. Some of my younger colleagues are more anxious to show off their chops anyhow, and as for some of the biting, hating, Brady - violating personalities I've left behind at the main courthouse, my new developing speciality has taught me that they may only be lacking a little Aggression Replacement Training.

I also want to acknowledge how much I'm enjoying hearing the word "rehabilitation" in a courtroom again. It's been too long. Even stranger, today I heard, "we're about redemption here," and from the bench even. I'm liking it.

I'm reflecting on how much there is to learn, and taking pleasure in finding things out. I want to thank my fellow Idahoan Liz of "I Speak of Dreams" for helping me out here, and sending me these latest links on juvenile justice:

From the Special Education Law Blog -

New Study on Juvenile Justice and Special Education

A new study from Indiana reveals severe short comings in the juvenile justice system. Overworked public defenders who lack sufficient training and motivation are among the findings. Many children go without representation or at best perfunctory representation in court. For special education students the findings of the report are especially troubling... (R)eceiving an education in juvenile jail is quite challenging to say the least...

A link to a newspaper article about the study is here.

An index of studies is here.

Being a p.d. and a dad and all, I'm determined not to be one of those "overworked public defenders who lack sufficient training and motivation..." Wish me well.