Another Happy Friday to everyone reading this! This week there is the new tip, one new job opportunity with NCCRED, one new training date to announce and a couple of registration deadlines for upcoming events.
Tip of the Week – Should I Waive PC?
That depends. As a general rule, you shouldn’t unless your client is receiving something in exchange for the waiver, such as an agreement not to transfer case, dismissal or reduction in the charges, or a specific disposition agreement. If you think you have any chance at reducing or dismissing the charges during the proceeding, push to have the hearing. But if, for example, your client is facing transfer to adult court, and the facts surrounding the case are especially unfavorable, you might want to consider waiving the hearing to reduce the impact of the bad facts on your client’s case for the transfer hearing– but never waive PC for a mandatory transfer case.
Job and Fellowship Opportunity
The North Carolina Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal Justice System (NCCRED) has an opening for a new Executive Director. The Executive Director will provide leadership and manage all aspects of the organization including, but not limited to, coordinating and filing reports, developing relationships with potential partners, promoting and developing research on racial disparities, and supervising interns and contract staff. The ideal candidate will have a passion for racial justice, experience in criminal justice reform and all aspects of nonprofit organizational management, excellent communication skills and comfort with managing conflict. Please find the full job description here. To apply please submit resume, cover letter, and salary requirements to James E. Williams, Jr., by June 1, 2019. Please include email subject line “NCCRED Director Position.”
The Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights (LCCR) is currently seeking applications for Mitigation Specialists in New Orleans and Baton Rouge to conduct mitigation investigations for Miller or Montgomery cases throughout the state. The Mitigation Specialist will be responsible for the investigation and development of competent, thorough, and quality mitigation in accordance with statewide performance standards, the American Bar Association Guidelines, and national best practices. The application deadline for both positions is May 17. To apply, please check here to apply for the New Orleans position and here to apply for the Baton Rouge opening.
The Forsyth County Public Defender’s Office is currently seeking a new assistant public defender. The selected candidate will represent indigent clients charged with misdemeanor criminal offenses and will be expected to analyze laws, facts, written documents, conduct legal research, develop litigation strategies. For the full job description and to apply, please go here.
Training
The deadline to register for the Southern Juvenile Defender Center (SJDC)‘s Ninth Annual Regional Summit is Monday, May 13. This year the Summit will be taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana, from June 7-8. You’re invited to come together with your colleagues from across the Southern states to participate in this one-of-a-kind program. If interested in attending, please register here. CLE credits are pending. For more information on lodging, the agenda, and fees, please visit the Eventbrite page here. Also, for those of you interested in attending, SJDC has released the final agenda for the two-day event, which can be viewed here.
Please save the dates for the 2019 Parent Attorney and Juvenile Defender Conferences. The Parent Attorney Conference will be held Thursday, August 8 and the Juvenile Defender Conference will be held Friday, August 9. Both conferences, cosponsored by the School of Government and the Office of Indigent Defense Services, will be held at the School of Government on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, and offer approximately six hours of CLE credit. The Parent Attorney Conference provides training for attorneys, who represent parents in abuse, neglect, dependency, and termination of parental rights proceedings. The Juvenile Defender Conference provides training for attorneys who represent children in delinquency proceedings. If you have any questions, please contact Program Manager Kate Jennings, or if you have questions about the course content, please contact Program Attorney Austine Long.
The online registration deadline for the 2019 Defender Trial School, cosponsored by the School of Government and the North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services, will be June 25. The event will be held Monday, July 8, through Friday, July 12, at the School of Government on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Defender Trial School participants will use their own cases to develop a cohesive theory of defense at trial and apply that theory through all stages of trial, including voir dire, opening and closing arguments, and direct and cross-examination. The program will offer roughly 29 hours of general CLE credit. The Defender Trial School is open to public defenders and a limited number of private attorneys who perform a significant amount of appointed work. IDS has expanded the number of fellowships available to cover the registration fee, but please note there is a limited number of fellowships. If you have any questions or would like additional information, please email Kate Jennings or Professor John Rubin or call 919-962-3287/919-962-2498. To register, find a fellowship application, see the agenda, or find any other information, please check out the course page here.
The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR)‘s Youth in Custody Certificate Program will be held July 22 – 26 at Georgetown University in partnership with Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators. This training is designed to help juvenile justice system leaders and partners improve outcomes for youth in custodial settings, covering critical areas including racial and ethnic disparities, family engagement, assessment, case planning, facility-based education and treatment services, reentry planning and support, and culture change.
From Around the Community
In honor of the 52nd anniversary of In re Gault, the Supreme Court decision that ultimately allowed children the right to counsel, the National Juvenile Defender Center will be hosting “The Story of (In)Justice” in at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, May 15. The event will take place from 6 – 8 p.m. and will feature and honor Yusef Salaam, a community activist and Central Park Five exonoree, and Sarah Burns, award-winning filmmaker and author of The Central Park Five. To register and learn more about this event, please check the link here.
That’s it for this second week of May. Please make sure to subscribe to the blog if you haven’t already and head over to Twitter and Facebook, like and follow us! Also, N.C. juvenile defenders, please contact us to be added to our listserv. Have a great weekend.
#CentralParkFive #BatonRouge #Gault #Washington #research #MayflowerHotel #LouisianaCenterforChildrensRights #DefenderTrialSchool #NationalJuvenileDefenderCenter #KateJennings #JohnRubin #ForsythCounty #MontgomeryvLouisiana #NCCRED #NewOrleans #SouthernJuvenileDefenderCenter #AmericanBarAssociation #UNC #SarahBurns #tipoftheweek #practicaltips #CouncilofJuvenileCorrectionalAdministrators #GeorgetownUniversity #SupremeCourt #YusefSalaam #Millercases #SchoolofGovernment #IndigentDefenseServices #CenterforJuvenileJusticeReform #AustineLong #CLE #Louisiana #ChapelHill #JobOpportunity #mitigation