Abuse or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can significantly alter the course of a child’s life and lead to severe problems. Trauma of any kind can leave an indelible mark on a person’s psyche. With treatment and support for social services, children may adopt unhealthy behaviors due to a shortage of coping mechanisms.

Many adults who struggle with drugs and alcohol or have run-ins with the law have a history of trauma stemming from physical and sexual abuse. In an attempt to escape one’s symptoms, turning to mind-altering substances appears to be a logical choice. Illicit drug use can lead to legal problems for young people. Some will even commit burglaries or theft in order to afford their drugs, which can be another path to the juvenile or criminal justice system.

What’s more, young people who suffer at the hands of abusive parents can find their way into legal troubles in some unexpected ways. Running away from home to escape violence can precipitate arrests, as can fighting back against one’s abuser.

Child Abuse Leads to Incarceration

Experiencing abuse in the home appears to be a common precursor to involvement with the justice system. Janelle Hawes, Ph.D. and Jerry Flores, Ph.D. conducted interviews with 33 girls at a juvenile detention center in southern California that supports the above statement, according to the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange. They found that abuse played a role in these young girls’ first involvement with the juvenile justice system.

The researchers discovered that parents or guardians abused 14 of the girls, the article reports. Some of the girls stated that fighting back against their oppressors resulted in arrests and detention. Others were arrested for running away from home to escape further abuse. Another path to the juvenile justice system was reporting their abuse to institutional actors like police and social workers. Below you will find a few examples of these types of instances:

“I love my mom, my mom used to beat the f-lip out of me, like crap out of me and one day I pulled a knife on her and I told her to stop and they put me in a damn mental institution,” said Debby, 14.

Aracely, 19, first got involved in the juvenile justice system after reporting her abuse to a criminal justice officer at school, according to the article. The officer took her to talk to the father (her abuser) and then decided that Aracely actions were tantamount to running away and arrested her. She said:

“… I had went to school, ’cause um, I was scared of going back home. I didn’t wanna go back home with my dad [because of abuse] … I was like, oh I don’t wanna go with my dad, like, I don’t really wanna go with him and then they’re like ‘we’re gonna talk to your dad’ and they came back, they came back into the room and they told me to get up and put my hands behind my back and that’s when I got arrested.”

Annabelle, 17, had a similar experience to Arcely. Escaping the abuse meant running away which lead to arrests. “Me and my father have never been close. Um, and I would always — I felt left out so I’d always go out there on the streets. I would run away a lot and then my father would kick me out. He would call the cops and say that I ran away and I started getting in trouble with the cops.”

Once a young person gets into the criminal or juvenile justice systems, they are far more likely to have run-ins with the police in the future. Research shows that young people need resources, support, and therapy, not juvenile detention. Running away from abuse should not be a crime or the impetus for juvenile detention.

California Juvenile Justice Attorney

Please contact The Law Offices of Katie Walsh for a free, confidential consultation. We can help you determine if we can assist you with your son’s or daughter’s legal or school troubles. As a former prosecutor, attorney Walsh is uniquely equipped to advocate for the needs of your family and help obtain the best possible outcome in your child’s case. (714) 351-0178.

This past Tuesday, May 4, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a measure that improves the quality and integrity of our juvenile criminal justice system by banning the use of solitary confinement in the County’s juvenile detention facilities.The motion was passed with unanimous support. The interim Chief of Probation, Cal Remington, called the new measure not just a change in policy, but a change in culture.

Studies have shown that solitary confinement is not only an ineffective means of punishment, but it also creates a high risk of physical and psychological harm to those so incarcerated. Youth in solitary confinement have higher rates of suicide; some studies indicate that as many as 50 percent of youth who commit suicide while incarcerated were in solitary confinement at the time of death.

Because juveniles’ brains are still developing, the negative psychological impact of solitary confinement on juveniles is particularly pernicious. Teenage minds, especially those of juveniles in the justice system who have already been subject to unusually high stress, are less equipped to cope with trauma. Solitary confinement has been shown to only exacerbate juvenile mental health issues, creating a vicious cycle of negative conduct.

Los Angeles County has one of the largest juvenile justice systems in the United States. Close to 1200 youth are housed in its detention facilities. The ban on solitary confinement only applies to juveniles in Los Angeles County and is not a change in state law. However, other counties or the state itself could follow LA County’s direction and implement a similar order.

The new rule does not completely ban the use of solitary confinement, but severely restricts its application to very limited circumstances: when a youth poses a serious risk to his or her self and others, he or she can be separated for a short period of time.

According to reports, the new rule is to be implemented by September 2016. Changes, however, are expected to begin in some facilities this month.

Katie Walsh is an attorney in Orange County, California. Attorney Walsh concentrates her law practice on juvenile defense, criminal defense, and victim’s rights.

Contact the Law Offices of Katie Walsh online or at (714) 351-0178.

As part of a larger effort to reduce the incarcerated populations in overcrowded prisons, Governor Jerry Brown proposed a bill last November that would make it more difficult to charge juveniles as adults in criminal cases.

The initiative was initially blocked by a judge in Sacramento, but the California Supreme Court said they would hear arguments about the bill’s legality. The bill seeks to repeal part of an initiative from 2000 that permits prosecutors to charge juveniles as young as 14 as adults in cases involving serious offenses.

The bill would also require juvenile court judges to review each case individually and determine based on the specific facts and circumstances of each case whether the juvenile should be tried in juvenile court or adult court.

Perhaps the most important distinction between being tried as an adult and tried as a juvenile is the disparity in sentencing consequences. Juveniles tried as adults can be sentenced as adults, and as such can face much longer or severe sentences.Juveniles sentenced in juvenile court to incarceration must be released at age 23.

While legal and political battles over the bill continue, supporters are working to collect the necessary number of signatures from registered voters to put the bill on the ballot in the November general election.

California’s prisons are overcrowded and the state has taken measures to actively decrease its prison population. This particular bill is one of the more direct efforts to reduce the number of juveniles who are incarcerated in our state. Its future remains to be seen, both in court and potentially on the ballot.

Katie Walsh is an attorney in Orange County, California who focuses her practice on juvenile law, criminal defense, and victim’s rights.

Contact the Law Offices of Katie Walsh online or at (714) 351-0178.