We all know our clients experience routine and egregious violations of their civil rights in county detention and commitment facilities. Whether it be excessive force, grotesque use of chemical agents, failure to provide meaningful programming or treatment, disgusting food, illegal room confinement, exclusion from education, or one of countless other indignities, young people’s basic rights are violated every day at the individual and systemic level. Juvenile defenders are often the first, and sometimes the last, line of defense against these abuses; and, now that all juvenile incarceration is local, if is more important than ever for defenders, as proximate witnesses, to directly address these injustices. This presentation will suggest opportunities and strategies to build facility-specific records in individual cases with the goal of avoiding detention and commitment, and with the hope of improving conditions for those young people who nonetheless end up inside. Presenters will describe recent legal updates and arguments that defenders can adapt to their individual clients’ circumstances, share resources and strategies for gathering evidence of facility conditions, and describe mechanisms and narratives to make arguments more compelling. Finally, presenters will provide thoughts on how developing conditions information and arguments in individual cases can provide essential, foundational elements required for system-wide change.
Erin Palacios
Grecia Reséndez