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 Bryant Bill To Protect Juveniles In Court Headed To Governor

 Measure to provide procedure for restraint of juveniles in court approved unanimously in General Assembly

RALEIGH - A bill sponsored by Rep. Angela Bryant that would provide a standard procedure for deciding when to use physical restraints in juvenile court has been approved unanimously in both chambers of the General Assembly. It now goes to Gov. Mike Easley to be signed into law.

Under the new law, a judge can only allow a juvenile to be restrained in the courtroom to maintain order in the court, prevent the juvenile's escape, or provide for the safety of the courtroom. The judge when practical must allow the juvenile and the juvenile’s attorney a hearing to contest the decision prior to the use of the restraints.

"This bill, while still protecting the judge’s authority to preserve order and safety in the courtroom, also protects the child’s right to fairness, dignity, humane treatment and due process.”

“I was pleased to help address this gap in the law”, Rep. Bryant says. “There was a statutory procedure for restraining adults in court but not for juveniles. That gap had resulted in some instances of the indiscriminate shackling of juveniles in court around the state without a standard procedure to consider each individual child. This bill, while still protecting the judge’s authority to preserve order and safety in the courtroom, also protects the child’s right to fairness, dignity, humane treatment and due process.”

This bill was brought to Rep. Bryant through the pro bono efforts of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP of Raleigh and was co-sponsored by Reps. Alice Bordsen, William Wainwright and Annie Mobley. The bill was supported by the North Carolina Bar Association, the state Department of Juvenile Justice, the Juvenile Defender’s Office, Legal Services and children’s advocacy groups around the state. There was growing concern among many people that juveniles were being restrained with shackles in court without any intentional individual consideration to age, gender, medical or mental/emotional background, charges or justification.

This issue arose in a much publicized Guilford County case in February involving the use of handcuffs and shackles in court on a 14-year-old girl charged with misdemeanor and felony larceny. She had a serious, documented mental and emotional disability and had been sexually abused with the use of handcuffs. Her lawyers sought to contest and change the practice of restraining juveniles in court without specific justification because the child reacted very emotionally to being handcuffed and shackled in court. While the lawyers were unsuccessful in getting the practice changed, the chief district court judge did enter an administrative order allowing them to challenge the use of restraints on her the next time she appears in court. The lawyers then began work to try to establish a routine statutory procedure for judges and lawyers to use in addressing the restraint of juveniles in the courtroom.

North Carolina is among several states reviewing this issue, and the new governor in Florida has made it one of his top priorities to push a statute similar to this one. Additionally, medical professionals are beginning to study the effects of shackling and other court procedures on juveniles. Some experts propose that routine physical restraints in court could impair the child’s development of identity and morality and could destroy the child’s trust in authority.

The House approved this bill last month by a vote of 118-0. The Senate agreed with the measure last Tuesday with a vote of 47-0.

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