NCJ Number
171477
Date Published
1997
Length
9 pages
Annotation
An examination of the New Orleans juvenile court shows a lack of constitutional protections for juveniles being processed, such as the right to adequate legal representation and due process.
Abstract
In New Orleans, public defenders are expected to play a subservient role, and prosecutors have by far the highest conviction rate of any big-city juvenile court in the Nation. Some juveniles remain in detention centers for up to 8 months without coming to trial, much longer than the 10- to 30-day limits imposed by most State laws. Particular judges in New Orleans juvenile courts follow unusual practices that are generally considered unconstitutional. Judge Lagarde, for example, has invited prosecutors and defense lawyers to join him in prayer in the courtroom to seek divine guidance before rendering a verdict. He also customarily tells public defenders who serve in his court what sentence he will give a defendant if convicted. Public defenders are assigned to particular judges, which creates a situation in which public defenders tend to comply with a judge's wishes rather than with the wishes of their clients. Public defenders in New Orleans are underpaid (approximately $18,000 a year), and their offices are underfunded (no money for offices, telephones, computers, files, or secretaries). There are approximately six public defenders, one for each courtroom, to handle the 2,200 delinquency cases processed each year. In most instances, there is no time to prepare cases, so the client is urged to plead guilty, but in the case of one juvenile judge (Judge Lagarde), those who plead guilty are given the same sentence as if they went to trial and were found guilty. Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (In re Gault) that juveniles have a right to counsel the same as adults, a senior State judicial official in Louisiana stated that in New Orleans, "We are absolutely in the pre-Gault era."