17-year-old Accused of Killing Georgia Deputy has Long Criminal History

Sunday’s Atlanta Journal Constitution has a story about 17-year-old Jonathan Bun, the youth who stands accused of the recent shooting death of a Clayton County, Ga., sheriff’s deputy. The story quotes Judge Steven Teske, a frequent contributor to the JJIE, as saying that he and other authorities in the state’s system recognized Bun as hardened as early as age 13. Despite efforts to divert Bun, he fell into serious crime and drug use, say police, culminating in the July 20 shooting of Deputy Richard Daly. If convicted, Bun could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In the story, Teske says about 8 percent of repeat juvenile offenders stand very little chance of rehabilitation.

Teen Accused of Killing Cop Appears In Court

A Riverdale Ga. teen charged in the shooting death of a Clayton County sheriff's deputy has appeared in Clayton County Superior Court. Investigators say Jonathan Bun has already confessed to killing Clayton County Sheriff's Deputy Rick Daly. Daly, 55, was shot and killed after he pulled over a Honda Civic that Bun was riding in. He was attempting to take the 17-year-old into custody for a January armed robbery at a gift store in College Park.

Savannah RYDC Overcrowding Result of Budget Cuts, Report Says

The Savannah Regional Youth Detention Center (RYDC) is busting at the seams with no relief in sight. The Savannah Morning News is reporting that the detention center can take 105 kids before juveniles start being routed to another facility. That happened eight times from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011. During that time period, the facility was at or over capacity for boys on 75 days, or 21 percent of the time, the newspaper said. For girls the facility was at or over capacity for 123 days, or 34 percent of the time.

Georgia Governor’s Office of Children and Families Executive Director to Resign

The Juvenile Justice Information Exchange has obtained an email that says the Georgia Governor’s Office for Children and Families (GOCF) Executive Director Jennifer Bennecke will resign August 15. The email to GOCF’s advisory board members, says Bennecke will not return following maternity leave. According to advisory board member Judge Steven Teske, Bennecke is resigning for personal reasons. JJIE also received a letter to GOCF from the Georgia Office of Audits and Accounts saying it will perform a "special examination" of GOCF's "performance and expenditures, including Children's Trust Fund revenues, that may be considered in connection with potential mergers with other organizations." Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue created GOCF in 2008 by joining together the Children’s Trust Fund Commission and the Children and Youth Coordinating Council into one organization.

Former DJJ Commissioner Hunt Named Head of National Prison Ministry

 

 

Former Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Garland Hunt has a new gig. Two weeks ago he was named president of Prison Fellowship, a 35-year-old Landsdowne, Virginia-based non-profit that touts itself as the largest prison ministry for adult inmates in this country. The organization has a presence in 50 states and an international arm in more than 120 countries. Nothing much had been heard from Hunt, a lawyer, ordained minister and corrections industry veteran, since late last year when then Georgia Gov.-Elect Nathan Deal abruptly replaced him in the post after only seven months on the job. Hunt recently spoke to JJIE.org’s Chandra Thomas about his new position and his reflections on his days at the helm of the state agency charged with monitoring and caring for some 20,000 youngsters.

Judge Peggy H. Walker

Georgia Juvenile Court Judge Elected to Lead the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

 

Longtime Georgia Juvenile Court Judge Peggy H. Walker was elected to the Executive Committee of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) earlier this week at their 74th national conference in New York City. Spanning the next five years, Judge Walker will serve as NCJFCJ secretary, treasurer, president-elect, president and immediate past-president, respectively.  

Founded in 1937, the Reno-based NCJFCJ is the nation’s longest running judicial membership committee with a roster of nearly 2,000 judges and related professionals. The council aims to provide judges, courts and related agencies with the necessary knowledge and skills to improve the lives of families and children affected by the juvenile justice system and domestic violence. “The common thread among the NCJFCJ leadership is hard work and the courage to overcome adversity as we work to improve the lives of children and families,” said the newly elected Judge Walker.

Program Offers Help for At-Risk Kids of Military Families

New York -- A decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has taken its toll on children whose parents are deployed, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington School of Public Health. The study, of more than 10,000, 8th, 10th and 12th-grade students, found that boys especially have been affected by the stress of a parent’s deployment. Researchers wrote that they are more likely to engage in high-risk behavior, experience low self esteem and suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts. The study was conducted in Washington state, home to 60,000 active-duty service members. “It’s really time to focus on the children that are left behind,” said Sarah Reed, the lead author of the report, “Adolescent well-being in Washington state military families,” published last week in the American Journal of Public Health.

Juvenile Justice Reformer Allen Breed Dies at 90

Juvenile justice reformer Allen Breed died last weekend at 90. Breed was the former director of the National Institute of Corrections and the California Youth Authority Allen Breed. In 1974, he was an important champion of the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act. “He was a real force,” said John Wilson, former deputy administrator of the federal Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and a consultant with Institute for Intergovernmental Research. Wilson said Breed was a “straight shooter.”

Later, Breed led the board of directors of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency for 10 years.

Georgia Chosen for Study of Legal Representation of Abused Children

More than 100 Georgia attorneys will participate in a four-year study of the legal representation of neglected and abused children. Georgia was chosen as one of two states to be research and demonstration sites for the National Quality Improvement Center on the Representation of Children in the Child Welfare System. The Georgia Supreme Court’s Committee on Justice for Children will administer the study in partnership with the Barton Child Law and Policy Center at Emory University and the Georgia Association of Counsel for Children. “Being part of this study provides Georgia a good opportunity to train attorneys to become better advocates for the children of our state,” Georgia Supreme Court Justice Harris P. Hines said. “It is hoped that the training will have a positive impact by lessening the time it takes to safely return children to their parents, or if this cannot be done, to timely find permanent families for Georgia’s foster children.”

The National Quality Improvement Center at the University of Michigan Law School collaborating with the U.S. Children’s Bureau chose Georgia and Washington as the two test sites.

Juvenile Justice Reform Experts, Advocates Offers Suggestions For Change

Juvenile justice system experts and reform advocates were among those who converged upon Miami last week for an annual conference hosted by the Open Society Institute (OSI). The, New York City-based private operating and grantmaking foundation focuses on criminal justice system reform. We asked a few of them “what single change would you make to the juvenile justice system?” Here’s what they had to say.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tarsha Jackson, an organizer with the Texas Reconciliation Project, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition and the Houston chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. “I think there needs to be more focus on prevention programs, but the biggest change I would make is to train all of the system stakeholders – the district attorneys, judges, court personnel – and train them on the definition of family involvement.