The VLW Blog

Relief is on the way for one of the most overworked courts in the state. Judges of Virginia’s 11th Circuit, including Petersburg and four nearby counties, have selected Petersburg lawyer Phillip T. DiStanislao Jr. for the Juvenile and Domestic Relations bench, according to an official at the state Supreme Court. The J&DR vacancy in the [...]

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The Court of Appeals has withdrawn an opinion reversing an adoption decision where the trial judge refused to postpone the hearing to allow the child’s mother to participate. The unpublished opinion is no longer available on the court’s website. The mother planned to challenge termination of her parental rights in Danville Circuit Court, but – [...]

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Friends of the Portsmouth Juvenile Court, Inc., a court support organization, will recognize some of its valued leaders and supporters on Saturday. An awards ceremony at the Chesapeake Conference Center will honor former board president Horace Savage and other Friends supporters Yvonne and Emanuel Upton and Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge [...]

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Media organizations protested, but a Prince William County judge has not commented on the closing of a key hearing for a 17-year-old charged with capital murder. According to Inside Nova, the News & Messenger, along with the Washington Post and WJLA/News Channel 8, sent Judge Janice J. Wellington a letter in March, protesting her decision. [...]

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The Roanoke Times reports Blacksburg attorney Harriet D. Dorsey has been appointed by circuit court judges to fill a vacancy on the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court bench in the 27th District. The paper reports Dorsey is one of several substitute judges who have heard cases, primarily in Wythe County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, [...]

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If House Bill 1753 was aimed at M. Keith Blankenship, the juvenile and domestic relations district judge in Wythe County who was twice convicted of traffic offenses last year, it won’t be necessary. Blankenship took an indefinite leave of absence after being charged with drunken driving in Smyth County on March 1 and with hit [...]

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Beware of “dabbling” in juvenile court, warns Lynchburg lawyer Margaret Nelson. An adjudication of guilt can have “serious collateral consequences” under Virginia law, and too many lawyers come into the juvenile and domestic relations court with no appreciation of that fact, according to Nelson, a former prosecutor and public defender. A juvenile adjudication can lead [...]

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Circuit Judge Colin Gibb has ruled that the juvenile court file and records related to a recent probation violation charge for Ahmad Bradshaw will remain under wraps. The Bristol Herald Courier had sued to open up the files on the 22-year-old New York Giants running back (right), who recently pulled a 28-day jail term in [...]

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