For those of us who follow this area of the law, Judge Gleicher’s work is very familiar.  Her opinions in this area are very well-reasoned, but what I find most impressive is the impact she has had on the rest of the bench.  In the short time she has been on the bench (she was appointed in 2007), there has been a shift in both the way the Court of Appeals views child protection cases and a renewed emphasis on these cases.  The Court has published more opinions in this area than ever.   This has even caused the Michigan Supreme Court to take up more termination of parental rights cases.

Here are a few of quick notes on Judge Gleicher’s seminar:

• It is important to preserve issues for appeal.  She emphasized the importance of making objections and filing motions to make a clear record.  As a trial attorney for 27 years, she understands how difficult this can be.  She explained that unpreserved issues require a great deal analysis to even reach the substantive issue than an issue preserved at the trial court level.  She also discussed the public policy of requiring issue preservation to create an incentive for parties to seek a remedy from the trial court first.
• The judge discussed hot topics in the Court of Appeals.  The Court is looking at the ability of incarcerated parents to plan for their children by finding proper care and custody with family member or others while they are incarcerated.  The Court is also looking at parenting time for children in care as a reasonable effort toward reunification.
• She also addressed the importance of appealing jurisdictional adjudications because the right to appeal jurisdiction is lost if an appeal is not timely filed.  Raising the issue of jurisdiction after parental rights are terminated on a supplemental petition is considered a collateral attack on the termination and is not permissible.  Thus, trial attorneys should advise their clients that they have an automatic appeal as of right at the jurisdictional phase.

© 2010, Melinda Deel. All rights reserved.

The article reports that the prosecutor did not follow through on an assault complaint in Waterford Township in which a female teen hockey player struck another player on December 5, 2010.  The father of the victim in the matter is apparently upset because the other player is permitted to continue participating in sports.  The school district has denied the father’s request that the school take immediate disciplinary action, suspend the player and remove her from all sports teams and athletic events.  There was no report that the victim was injured.  Yet, the Oakland Press feels the need to “question why Cooper seems to be taking such a casual approach to an apparently serious incident.”  The report then goes on to criticize the prosecutor for not communicating her actions on juvenile offenses to the public.

Am I wrong here or is this report overly harsh on the prosecutor?  First, I think it would be hard to argue that the prosecutor should give the same  priority to a simple assault as she does a more serious crimes like Armed Robbery.  A good prosecutor should direct her resources to the most serious crimes first.  Second, I am not sure how much she should communicate the rationale behind the use of her prosecutorial discretion.  There are ethical rules that  prohibit her from making public communications that would have a “substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding .” MRPC 3.6.   Finally, perhaps this issue was better left to the local school board, who did not find the offense serious enough to take action, to discipline the child, rather than as a juvenile delinquency matter.

You can read the Oakland Press Editorial here.

© 2010, Melinda Deel. All rights reserved.

Officials say the cost of treating juvenile sex offenders could push Berrien County Trial Court’s 2010 budget over the targeted amount by $677,000.

Total court spending is estimated at $22.2 million, while the budget target is $21.54 million. A hearing before the county board’s finance committee is scheduled for Sept. 8.

Elvin Gonzalez, administrator of the trial court’s Family Division, says the county currently has 33 juveniles requiring costly out-of-home placement. He says that includes 12 sex offenders needing placement in specialized treatment programs at a cost of $100,000 per year, the average stay required for an effective outcome.

Asked by Commissioner Gloria Gillespie whether the county could provide expanded, less expensive foster care for young sex offenders, Gonzalez said such youths often can’t live in the community.

Juvenile sex offenses have always been difficult for me.  On the one hand, a child who commits a sex offense is in serious need of treatment.  On the other hand , the application of SORA and other aspects of an adjudication, make the impact of an adjudication draconian for the minor.  I believe there must be a public policy decision made regarding whether a juvenile who commits a sex offense can be rehabilitated.  If so, he or she should not be forced to register as a sex offender once successfully released from the Court’s jurisdiction.  It does not serve the public good or the minor to make him or her register as a sex offender if they are not a risk to the community.  If it is not possible to rehabilitate a juvenile sex offender, alter the system to treat juvenile sex offenses in the same manner as adults, where the goal is to protect society from these dangerous individuals and eliminate the pretext of attempting to help them.

© 2009, Melinda Deel. All rights reserved.

It is truly a sad day for juvenile representation in Michigan.  I have long advocated public defender offices for indigent juvenile respondents.  This move puts Wayne County three steps back.  These types of cuts to indigent representation will bring Michigan back to the days before In re Gault, [387 U.S. 1 (1967)] the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision which established that under the Fourteenth Amendment, juveniles accused of crimes in a delinquency proceeding must be accorded many of the same due process rights as adults such as the right to timely notification of charges, the right to confront witnesses, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to counsel.

As court budgets throughout the state are increasingly strained due to the current economic climate, watch for more cuts to indigent representation, including GALs for incapacitated adults, representation for parents and children in child abuse and neglect matters and criminal defense.  Cutting indigent representation is a much easier way for a court to meet its budget task than laying off court staff.  It is much more difficult to look at someone you have worked with for years and tell them not to come into work tomorrow than to simply cut a contract.  While I understand how difficult these choices can be, these children have a right under the United States Constitution to competent legal counsel and that costs money.  If courts continue in this direction, I smell a lawsuit brewing similar to the case recently settled by Michigan DHS brought on behalf of foster children.

© 2009, Melinda Deel. All rights reserved.

With the Memorial Day weekend upon us, I thought it was appropriate to post thefurlough schedule for the Michigan Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and SCAO.  The schedule was announcedby the Supreme Court Wednesday, May 20, 2009.  For those of you that do appellate work, if your filing is due on any of the furlough days, you get an extra day’s reprieve because furlough days will be treated as court holidays and your deadline is extended to the next business day.

The Michigan Supreme Court has announced that it, the Court of Appeals, and the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO) will take six mandatory furlough days by the end of the fiscal year.  The furlough days will fall on the following dates: 

• Friday, June 19
• Monday, July 6
• Friday, July 24
• Friday, August 7
• Friday, August 21
• Friday, September 4

On these days, both the Supreme Court Clerk’s Office and the Court of Appeals’ Clerk’s Office will be closed and so will not be accepting filings.  The furlough days will be treated as court holidays for the purpose of filing deadlines, which means that any filings due on a furlough day will be accepted as timely if received on the next regular business day.  The Court’s press release is available here.

© 2009, Melinda Deel. All rights reserved.