Legal Aid requests Court cease routine shackling of minor child
February 5, 2007 MEDIA RELEASE
(Greensboro, NC) – With concern that handcuffing children may cause
serious psychological and emotional harm, Greensboro attorney
Bennett Hollers and Legal Aid of North Carolina attorneys filed a motion today
to prohibit the practice of routinely shackling minor children while
appearing as juvenile defendants in the court room. The motion is
part of a juvenile delinquency petition in the Guilford County
District Court.
“We suggest that handcuffing only be considered when the Court
determines that the child may pose a physical threat to herself,
others in the courtroom or is considered a genuine risk of fleeing
the courtroom,” says Keith Howard, staff attorney for Legal Aid of North Carolina.
Howard is one of several Legal Aid of North Carolina (LANC) attorneys who along
with Hollers are advocating for the mental health needs of a
14-year-old girl in Guilford County District Court. The girl’s
medical records revealed a history of sexual abuse that also
included being handcuffed by her abuser. Consequently,
whenever she is handcuffed in court, she is reminded of her past
sexual abuse.
“Our client has become very emotional and cried in court when she is
handcuffed and shackled,” notes Howard, “however, no one has stated
that she posed a threat or risk of fleeing.”
The motion filed today in Guilford County District Court includes a
listing of NC statutes pertaining to the use of shackles on adult
defendants and the rights of juveniles to have all the rights
afforded adult offenders. The motion states that the policy
and practice of shackling detained children without a judicial order
violates the State and Federal Constitutions.
“We also suggest that the practice of indiscriminately handcuffing
and shackling children is contrary the legislative intent and
rehabilitative purposes of the juvenile justice system,” says Lewis
Pitts, senior managing attorney for LANC’s Advocates for
Children’s Services project. “Adult criminal defendants are not
shackled in court without an individualized determination that they
pose a threat to their safety, the safety of others or a risk of
fleeing. ”
The juvenile petition hearing is still pending. Therefore, LANC’s
client will again appear in the courtroom in the near future.
“We think this 14-year-old girl does not need to be handcuffed,”
says Pitts, “Nor should any detained child appearing in the Guilford
County Court be handcuffed or shacked absent a judicial finding that
the individual child poses a threat or at risk of fleeing the
Court.”
Advocates for Children’s Services (ACS) is a statewide project of Legal
Aid of North Carolina that provides free legal representation to
at-risk children and children involved in the juvenile justice
system because they have been denied Medicaid, Special Education,
speedy permanent placement and/or the opportunity for a sound basic
education. ACS currently has offices in Durham and Winston-Salem,
NC.
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to eligible,
low-income people in all 100 counties in North Carolina through 24,
geographically located offices in North Carolina. LANC’s
clients typically have an annual income of 125% or less of the
federally established poverty levels.
ATTACHMENT:
MOTION: In the Matter of Rebecca C.
CONTACTS:
-
Keith Howard (Staff Attorney, LANC Advocates for Children’s Services,
Durham, NC), 919-226-0051
Bennett Hollers (Attorney, Greensboro, NC), 336-379-0090
Ann Marie Dooley (Staff Attorney, Legal Aid of North Carolina,
Greensboro), 336-272-0148
Lewis Pitts (Senior Managing Attorney, LANC Advocates for Children’s
Services, Durham, NC), 919-226-0051
Dock Kornegay (Director, Public Relations & Development, Raleigh, NC),
919-856-2564
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Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in
order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers
to economic opportunity.