Many of you know that my family has been challenged this year by a series of unique physical setbacks, breaks, and burdens. Those who do know of these things also know that I am most thankful for my sense of humor seeing me through all those scintillating pitfalls. But our business has a life of its own, and fortunately the system does not stop when one person’s maladies potentially interrupt our forward progress, our momentum for positive change. Just like professional sports teams, our organizations and agencies sustain the effort when one of us falls down.
Dislocate an ankle? Someone else will get your job done. Separate a shoulder? Some volunteer will cover for you. I am sure each of you has found that our organizational units also recruit using similar team principles: the worst team gets the best draft pick, thus perpetuating growth and rebuilding among and within our system. Add to all this our minimum six-figure salaries, royal days off every 400 years, bonuses for not using leave time, and free-agency clauses throughout the juvenile justice system, and one can paint a rosy picture for all the world to see. The easy portability of our skills and employment from one discipline to another, one agency, one locality to another is amazing. Of course this is true in any business, not just ours. We couldn’t publish it in the Advocate if it were not.
It’s a comforting thought to know that the Commonwealth’s juvenile justice plateau is firm and stable, and that we are not staring over the precipice into an abyss. The number of qualified and willing employees available in the workforce is at a record high. High schools and community colleges are trying to divert potential candidates away from our system because there are so many people who want to work with troubled children that they fear a lack of qualified teachers, medical practitioners, and Homeland Security personnel on the horizon. No one even whispers about buyouts and retirements. Who would leave the wondrous environment in which we work? Surely no one working tonight who is over fifty, I can tell you that. And the plethora of 401K plans, health care coverage, and universal benefits is so outstanding, we can all be thankful and smile those secret smiles of satisfaction. Yes sir, life sure is good on the old juvenile justice prairie...until someone steals your horse.
Have you ever wondered why horse theft at one time was a capital (hanging) offense in the Wild West? It’s because it almost always assured the demise of the previous horse owner. If you broke a leg in the desert or far up some canyon, and had no way to lash yourself onto a horse and get to the nearest town doctor, you died. Life was a whole lot less certain when there were no cell phones, dispatchers, and ambulances. Heck, even on rural roads now, there isn’t five minutes a car isn’t traveling up or down the highway. But back then, without a horse, you just died where you were. They didn’t send up the air patrol to search for you. There were no backup plans. No signs or signals alerting others to help. No GPS. But today…today we have adopted civil remedies (insurance) for what used to be considered desperately serious criminal offenses, and I’m glad for it. If my car is stolen, I’ll never spend a fraction of one moment thinking about executing the man who took it. However, it is still a bit of a conundrum for the thief.
You see, the poorest criminal defendants still go into court defenseless. We all know they are offered a competent attorney if they cannot afford one, but not having the means to pre-plan and fashion your own sentence, just means you fall on the mercy of the court – a little like falling on one’s sword I would imagine. Even in today’s period of enlightenment, horse theft is a felony in most cases, and that can mean serious penalties. For juveniles, even setting aside commitment, there are an abundant number of harsh dispositions available. Imagine for a moment being on trial, ready to hear the judge’s disposition in your case. Your counsel rises and speaks…oh, oh, first, let’s be a wealthy defendant:
A Wealthy Defendant’s Attorney: “Your Honor, May it please the court…my client comes here this day contrite and forthright in his conviction to amend the error of his ways. He has accepted fully the responsibility of his acts. Since his arrest, he has taken on a part time job and paid nearly one-half of the restitution money back to his parents who have already paid the victim in this matter. He has maintained his school attendance and is taking tutoring four afternoons a week at a nationally recognized teaching firm. His family has sought and my client has almost completed private psychological counseling to examine his personal issues and any that may have arisen from the family environment. His parents, though divorced, are both here today to support their son in his completion of voluntary community service work at his church, and each is in agreement to limit his driving privilege to work and school only, and they have set rigid curfew for the remainder of the school year.” (Standing behind you, your attorney’s hand is resting on your shoulder.) “We ask, your Honor, that the court recognize the defendant’s sincere nolo contendere pleading, and that the court set judgment aside, taking the matter under advisement for a period of six months with the expectation that he follow through on all I have enumerated here. I am confident he will remain of good behavior, and then we will be asking the court to dismiss this matter entirely.”
Now, as a poor defendant, you get a turn. How do you think that will go? Still waiting to get an appointment with the public provider for an assessment? Still having transportation problems and can’t do voluntary community service work? How’s that rising-junior doing as your math tutor? Did you get five minutes before court to discuss your case with your attorney? Still can’t afford a driver’s license, a car, insurance? If you don’t pay restitution and/or court costs for this offense, does that mean you’re not of good behavior? Can this thing come back to haunt you years later? What is DNA and why does the Sheriff want yours?
Actually, life is still tough out there on the juvenile justice plain. You can step into a gopher hole anytime and break a leg, and then you had better hope you still have your horse. That’s where we come in as an Association. Though the work of the system will go on, advocacy too cannot come to a stop. For all of you who, like me, gave public comments this year to the Ombudsman study, the Crime Commission, and JLARC, thank you. We must stand together as a team of concerned, involved citizens through all times - trying times and not so trying. That’s why we have elections in the VJJA and we send our representatives to speak for us. When we break, when we fall down, when our lives are interrupted, our message of care and concern for court-involved children will and must continue unabated. It must outlive our own usefulness.
We all do our part in this arena, but it always helps when we recruit new members. Having the momentum of numbers, increased membership emboldens us to take firmer stands, to speak in more coliseums, and to take on tougher opponents. If we do not advocate for the children with whom we work, few will. Invite a friend and colleague to join the VJJA. New members bring fresh perspective, new ideas, and many times a better sense of humor. God knows mine has been wearing thin this year and I could use a good laugh one more time before I die.
Ron Telsch is a Probation
Supervisor in the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice's 25th
Court Service Unit (covering Lexington, Covington and
Botetourt).
INSTITUTE OF LAW, PSYCHIATRY AND PUBLIC
POLICY (ILPPP) - UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
Upcoming Programs of Interest to
Juvenile Justice Professionals
Assessing Individuals Charged with Sexual Crimes
November 15 - 16, 2007
Charlottesville, VA, ILPPP
Juvenile Forensic Evaluation: Principles,
Practice, and Foundation in Virginia Law
December 10 -14, 2007
Charlottesville, VA, ILPPP
Advanced Research & Clinical Topics in Forensic Practice
January 31 - February 1, 2008
Omni Hotel, Charlottesville, VA
January 31 - Treating and Managing
Psychopathy: An Innovative Perspective
February 1 - Reflections Upon the Virginia Tech Tragedy
& Prosecution of a Terrorist: The Case of Abu Ali
Assessing the Risk for Violence in Clinical Practice
February 15, 2008
Charlottesville, VA, ILPPP
Assessing Risk for Violence with Juveniles
March 14, 2008
Charlottesville, VA, ILPPP
Evaluation Update: Applying Forensic Skills to Juveniles
April 3 - 4, 2008
For program & continuing education information
Please contact els2e@virginia or (434) 924-5126.
For registration information, including dates, locations, and costs please contact smw9w@virginia.edu or
(434) 924-5435 or visit www.ilppp.virginia.edu.
