Study Argues Early Exposure To Lead May be Factor In Juvenile Crime

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A new study published in the International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry explores an unexpected factor as a possible contributor to juvenile delinquency: early childhood exposure to lead. According to the study, early exposure to high lead levels can result in an array of developmental problems, from behavioral issues to lowered intelligence to hearing impairment. “Very small amounts of lead are associated with toxicity,” Summer Miller, a researcher from the Southern University Law Center, is quoted in a press release. “It has been reported that levels as low as 10 micrograms per deciliter show enough lead exposure to diagnose lead poisoning.”

She states that lead poisoning has a “progressive effect over time,” and since symptoms of toxicity include typical ailments like chest pains and headaches, high exposure detections generally go unnoticed. As a result, greater education regarding toxic metals and their potential effects on the nervous systems of children are necessary, she believes.

Real Reform is Real Change

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I read with interest the excellent op-ed by my fellow contributor John Lash titled "Putting a Face on Reform" and his comments gave me pause to consider those faces. To reform something is "to change to a better state, form, etc; improve by alteration, substitution, abolition, etc." My wife and I are undergoing a reformation of the second level of our home. Our house has undergone a "change to a better state," but not without some pain--to our pocketbook--and let’s not overlook the two months of agony throughout the construction. Despite the pain, the results catapulted us out of the harvest gold and avocado green colors of the 1970s and into this century.

Suspects Held Without bail in Wake of Hadiya Pendleton Funeral, Michelle Obama Visit

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By Safiya Merchant and Eric Ferkenhoff

Three days after Michelle Obama flew to Chicago for the funeral of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, the slain honor student who performed at last month’s presidential inauguration, a judge ordered two men to be held without bail on first-degree murder charges amid the swirl of politics set off by her death. In laying out the charges, prosecutors detailed how Hadiya, a majorette with her King College Prep high school band, got caught up as the unintended target of a gang retaliatory shooting – allegedly by suspects Michael Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20. The men also face charges of attempted murder and various weapons offenses. During a Monday evening news conference to announce the arrests, police brass and some politicians seized on the weapons charges as evidence that Chicago, the state of Illinois and the nation need to toughen the very gun laws for which at least one of the suspects had previously served time. (Had sentences for weapons offenses here and elsewhere been more strict, this reasoning goes, Hadiya might not have been slain as the shooter would still be locked up.)

Whatever the case, there is little denying that Hadiya’s death is the subject of wide debate even as it hit so personally for those who knew her.

Hearings Soon on Georgia Juvenile Justice Overhaul

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Georgia’s 244-page revision to its treatment of juvenile delinquents includes diversion ideas from the likes of Texas and Ohio as well as the idea used in many states of intervening with children before they commit a crime. House Bill 242 is the sum of months of research, a recommendation report from the Georgia Criminal Justice Reform Council, and a code update that’s been in the works for several years. “The governor agreed to have the Council’s recommendations incorporated into what we were doing last year, which involved not only a rewrite of the juvenile code but also some policy changes,” said state Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, the bill’s sponsor. The attorney has led the years-long work on the existing code. The key recommendation from the 2012 report from the Council, a blue-ribbon panel of 20 judges, attorneys, legislators and law enforcement, was that low-risk juveniles be kept near home or at home for treatment, restorative justice and other consequences of rule-breaking.

Exclusive Interview with Robert Listenbee, Incoming Head of Federal Office of Juvenile Justice

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JJIE.org spoke on the phone Monday with defense attorney Robert Listenbee Jr., who was recently picked by President Barack Obama to lead the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention at the U.S. Department of Justice. The office has not had a permanent administrator for four years. Listenbee, who has not yet received a formal federal appointment, continues to head the juvenile unit at the Defenders Association of Philadelphia in the meantime. Listenbee spoke about the insights he brings to the national stage based upon his experiences with the juvenile justice system in Pennsylvania, and how his time as a law student at the University of California, Berkeley, and his stint as a secondary school teacher in Kenya as a young Harvard student sparked his passion for working with young people. Below are excerpts from the conversation.

New National Standards For Legal Defense Could Help Juveniles

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It happens too often in court systems around the country. A teenager is charged with a crime. His family can’t afford a lawyer, but the court won’t assign him one until he can prove a lack of funds. He meets his lawyer for the first time a few minutes before he’s due to appear in court. The lawyer’s waving a file and using words the teenager doesn’t understand.

Proposed Neb. Bill Replaces Juvenile LWOP with 20-Year Minimum Sentence

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A Nebraska state senator is proposing legislation that would replace juvenile life without parole sentences with 20-year-minimum terms, although some offenders could be up for parole after 10 years behind bars. State Sen. Brad Ashford (I-Omaha) presented the bill to the state’s Judiciary Committee Feb. 8, the Associated Press (AP) reports. Currently, 27 inmates in Nebraska’s prisons are serving life without parole sentences for crimes committed as juveniles. In total, more than 250 other prisoners are housed in state facilities for offenses committed as juveniles.

Collaboration in Action: Robert Listenbee and George Mosee

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The field of juvenile justice is abuzz with the recent news of President Barack Obama appointing Robert Listenbee to be the next administrator of the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. While most reports are quoting “advocates” closely aligned with the defense bar, there is another group of professionals who are cheering this nomination as well -- juvenile court prosecutors. As many in the field know, one of Listenbee’s biggest supporters is George Mosee, the deputy district attorney in Philadelphia who oversees juvenile court and has worked closely with Listenbee for more than 10 years. While it may seem unusual for a prosecutor to hail the praises of a defense attorney, Mosee and Listenbee are both committed to bringing about positive outcomes for the young people in Philadelphia. Over the past years these two men have developed a professional working relationship based upon mutual respect and trust — one that can serve as a model of collaboration for other practitioners on both sides of the aisle.