Pubdate: Tue, 01 Jan 2002
Source: The Herald-Sun (NC)
Copyright: 2002 The Herald-Sun
Contact:  http://www.herald-sun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428
Bookmarks: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

'YOUTH TREATMENT COURT'

Judge Morey's Righteous Anger

In 1998, North Carolina overhauled an antiquated juvenile justice code that 
was ill equipped to handle chronic and violent juvenile offenders. While 
the legislation stiffened penalties for violent offenders and sped up 
timing of court procedures for juveniles facing charges, it also stressed 
prevention and early intervention, with more dollars for local programs 
designed to reform juveniles just starting to stray.

At the time, Marcia Morey, who headed the commission that helped rewrite 
the juvenile code, praised it as a balanced approach to the problem of 
juvenile crime. No wonder Morey, now a Durham District Court judge, is 
particularly galled at the obstacles facing Durham's "youth treatment 
court" that she presides over.

Durham County opened the special court, the first in the state, 14 months 
ago. It is supposed to help juveniles who get into trouble overcome drug 
problems and steer them away from crime. But Judge Morey says the court is 
not living up to its potential. She puts the blame on bureaucratic bungling 
and the inability of different agencies to work together.

To back her claims, Morey cited an extensive laundry list of mismanaged 
cases to Herald-Sun court reporter John Stevenson. In one example, Morey 
ordered psychological evaluations for a boy during his probation period. 
The evaluations never took place. Meanwhile, his probation period ended, 
and the court could take no further steps to get him help.

In another case, the Durham County Department of Social Services appealed 
three of her decisions to send juveniles to drug treatment programs in 
other counties - this in spite of the lack of available local treatment. 
Social Services, according to Morey, maintains that a judge should not have 
made the decision. The appeals are pending.

Morey threatened to hold the county's mental-health director and three 
other officials in contempt of court for allegedly dragging their feet in 
the case of a 15-year-old sex offender who needed treatment. Morey never 
made good on her threat, but she criticized the officials for their lack of 
accountability in the matter.

Before North Carolina revised the juvenile code, judges, prosecutors and 
other public officials who work with youth constantly complained that the 
courts lacked the means to instill in first-time offenders an immediate 
sense of the consequences of their actions. We also know that Durham does 
not suffer from a lack of will to tackle this problem:Durham has numerous 
public and nonprofit organizations that have been established to help 
youth. The problem, we have been told, is a lack of coordination.

Judge Morey is not content to complain about the problems facing youth 
treatment court. To promote better communication and cooperation among the 
agencies involved in the court, Morey has written an agreement pledging 
cooperation from various agencies. Morey hopes all parties will sign it.

They should sign, and then go one step further and make the agreement work. 
When North Carolina realized its juvenile code needed revamping, Durham led 
the way. We also ought to be leading the way in the implementation of those 
reforms, not fighting the same bureaucratic turf battles that impeded 
progress in the past.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake