Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Andy Block of Charlottesville thinks that too many children accused of crime are getting caught up in the adult justice system. Block – a much-honored child advocate – offered “modest proposals” for reforms at the recent meeting of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association at the Homestead.

Block questions “whether Virginia is getting what it wanted” from the dramatic changes in the juvenile code in the mid 1990’s. The changes of the 90’s were designed to see that the “worst of the worst” juvenile offenders were put on trial as adults. Block suggests that the adult-trial net is being cast too broadly.

Block is the Virginia State Bar’s 2007 Legal Aid Attorney of the Year. He is the founder of the JustChildren Program of the Legal Aid and Justice Center in Virginia and the Child Advocacy Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Block says that most youths who are convicted in adult court end up being sentenced as juveniles. While that means they get opportunities for education and rehabilitation, they still are branded as adult offenders. The consequences are significant, according to Block.

Young people convicted of felonies as adults lose their right to vote; they are barred from some student loans; they have difficulty finding jobs. If the crime is a sex offense, the young defendant is required to register as a sex offender, just as an adult must. Block points out that, unlike adult offenders, children with sex offense charges rarely re-offend.

“Adult convictions for children create real obstacles to successful adult lives,” said Block. “We are giving them the scarlet letter early, sometimes unnecessarily, and often unproductively.”
“If we are going to sentence them as juveniles anyway, we might want to figure out a way to keep them in the juvenile court to begin with.”

Block also points to what he sees as geographic disparity in juvenile transfers to circuit courts. Because prosecutors are given so much discretion in determining whether young defendants go to circuit court, Block says the transfer decision might depend on the locality in which the alleged offense occurred. “It’s an uneven application of the law.”

Block proposes to restore more authority to judges facing transfer decisions, including giving circuit court judges the authority to waive transfer and send a youthful defendant back to juvenile court if it is apparent the defendant will end up with a juvenile sentence.

Block also would limit the ability of judges to put young defendants in adult jails while awaiting trial. He points of the case of a 15-year-old boy held for 6 months in an adult jail, only to be acquitted when his case finally went to trial.

“My hope is that, presented with the right information and given the opportunity to consider and discuss the matter, policy makers might one day think that there is a better way to do it,” Block said.

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