Don’t send kids to court alone

Legal aid for the thousands of impoverished people charged with crimes in Washington state has improved in recent years, thanks to increased responsibility and funding by the state.

But a just-released report on the status of public defense in the state shows there are still major gaps in legal support for the poor.

Most troubling is the finding that 17 counties never or only sometimes make public defense attorneys available to children and teenagers during their first appearance in juvenile court.

These small-to medium-size counties — Thurston and Mason counties are not among the 17, but Grays Harbor County is — handle about 30 percent of the 22,000 cases a year involving juveniles making their initial appearance in court on allegations that they committed a crime.

Those first appearances in court are crucial. It’s where probable cause to proceed with charges or hold the child or teen in custody is determined. What happens in that first appearance can set the course for how the case will be handled, including dismissal or placement in a diversion program or prosecution of the case.

This is no time for a juvenile to be left alone in a confusing and intimidating legal proceeding without the benefit of an attorney.

In this one-sided affair, the judge and prosecutor hear only law enforcement’s version of the incident.

A child or teen’s constitutional right to an attorney has been well established in a 1967 court case and reinforced in state law since then. It’s unconscionable to think that juvenile offenders still fend for themselves in court at the critical first stage of a legal proceeding when decisions are made that could affect their lives forever.

The flaws in the juvenile offender public defense system were well documented four years ago by a highly credible committee representing the Washington State Bar Association, the Northwest Juvenile Defender Center the Washington Defender Association and others intimately familiar with juvenile justice.

They concluded that many juveniles were not receiving counsel, contrary to law. They found excessive caseloads and public defenders who lacked the training to represent juveniles.

Now it’s 2008, and many of the same problems still exist.

Adding to the problem is a wide disparity in compensation for public defense attorneys who are paid more to represent an adult than they are to represent a juvenile.

Historically the financial responsibility for public defense programs for the indigent has fallen on the counties.

In 2006, state lawmakers provided some initial funding for public defense improvements, boosting it to $6.5 million last year.

But it remains a drop in the bucket, compared to the $87 million a year paid by the counties.

More state funding, increased use of diversion programs and increased training of public defenders specializing in juvenile offenders are all part of the solution.

And the practice of sending alleged juvenile offenders to their first court appearance without an attorney must stop.