In my last piece written just before the start of the 2022 session, I urged the Maryland legislature to consider and adopt five major changes to the current juvenile delinquency law. Happily, the General Assembly enacted reform measures with respect to four of the...
In my most recent blog, I examined how judges decide whether to have serious cases involving 15-, 16-, and 17-year-olds handled in juvenile court or as adult criminal cases. For a variety of reasons—including the fact that, although the juvenile court has...
Last time, we saw how juvenile delinquency cases are heard in Montgomery County, with a look back at the unique history here. Today, I examine how these judges have extraordinary discretion to essentially make or break the lives of juveniles in the county. Before...
When I was assigned to the juvenile rotation in 2013, a fellow judge in Baltimore City told me that this would be the most important work I would do as a judge. I believed her then and I found it to be true. Juveniles can be put on a better path so they do not...
In Maryland, all things “delinquency” flow through the Department of Juvenile Services. If you are a parent seeking a peace order in a juvenile case, you would go there. If you are a police officer who has arrested a juvenile, you know to go there. If you are an...