NCJ Number
170001
Journal
University of Louisville Journal of Family Law Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1996) Pages: 239-324
Date Published
1996
Length
86 pages
Annotation
Incidents of child abuse and neglect sometimes result in parallel proceedings in juvenile and criminal courts; this article explains how to coordinate both types of proceedings and the legal principles that affect the legality of such coordination.
Abstract
The article is based on legal research as well as on interviews conducted during visits to four sites in the United States. The first section explains why proceedings should be coordinated and provides an overview of how to coordinate the litigation. The second section suggests specific steps to coordinate cases, but it does not explore in detail the legal barriers to such steps. The third section evaluates the possibility of coordinating the timing of juvenile and criminal court proceedings. The final section examines technical legal barriers to coordination, including the legal concepts of the right against self-incrimination, immunity, professional privilege, and confidentiality. One of the principles advocated by this paper is that successful coordination requires a multifaceted and consistent process for the prosecutor, agency attorney, police, and child protection agency to work together in developing a routine for cooperating on individual cases in which they are simultaneously involved. Also, successful coordination requires basic consensus on case goals, information sharing among participants, a multidisciplinary advisory council and a multidisciplinary case coordination team, supportive legislation, and better protection of information in the juvenile court proceeding that should not reach the criminal proceeding. 225 footnotes