The VLW Blog

Del. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, and Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, agreed that children can be kept in limbo far too long by proceedings to terminate parental rights.
But they had different approaches to reducing the delay. Griffith’s House Bill 292 would have put jurisdiction over terminations in circuit court, rather than in juvenile and domestic [...]

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The Los Angeles Times looks at an issue that may be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court - whether juvenile offenders should be eligible for life without parole.
At issue is whether it is cruel and unusual punishment to sentance a minor to a lifetime of incarceration when the crime does not involve a homicide.
According to [...]

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While defenders of a teenaged boy convicted of rape have been publicly proclaiming his innocence, the prosecutor still is forbidden to respond out of court.
Stafford Circuit Judge J. Martin Bass stayed a juvenile court judge’s ruling yesterday, blocking Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen from commenting on the records of a teen he prosecuted on a [...]

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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 to later [...]

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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 Abingdon [...]

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Andy Block of Charlottesville thinks that too many children accused of crime are getting caught up in the adult justice system, only to be handed juvenile sentences when they emerge from court. Block – a much-honored child advocate – will address the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association this morning at the group’s annual convention at [...]

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