Juvenile justice reform backed

LINCOLN — When he was 16, Justin Tolston made a stupid mistake. He shoplifted a $4 bottle of facial cream.

He pleaded no contest and successfully fulfilled his punishment: 90 days of probation.

It wasn't until recently that Tolston learned how a misdemeanor offense in a supposedly noncriminal juvenile court can come back to bite you.

He was told he probably wouldn't be hired as an intern in the State Attorney General's Office because of his youthful transgression.

Tolston, now a University of Nebraska-Lincoln sophomore seeking a degree in political science, eventually got the job, but only after a couple of state senators intervened on his behalf.

His story illustrates one main goal of a massive proposal to reform the state's juvenile justice system: to keep a minor, youthful crime from blocking a reformed kid's chance at a college scholarship, the military, a job.

State Appeals Court Judge John Irwin said such unintended “collateral consequences” are unproductive not only for the juvenile, but also society.

An all-star lineup of officials who deal with youths testified Wednesday, in general support of two bills proposed by Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford in the wake of studies on juvenile justice reform.

Legislative Bill 923 would allow the sealing of court records when a juvenile successfully completes a diversion or probation program in juvenile or county court.

LB 800 would make dramatic reforms in how the state treats juvenile offenders. Among other things, it would allow the issuance of “civil citations” for minor offenses to relieve pressure on juvenile courts and get kids into counseling quickly.

The bill also would give schools a bigger stake in handling truants and give judges the power to order families to get counseling to address a child's problems.

The bills, Ashford said, grew out of the wake-up call Nebraska received when dozens of troubled youths were dropped off at hospitals under the state's previous safe haven law in 2008.

Too many juveniles with minor, nonviolent offenses are being sent to facilities like the Douglas County Youth Center, where they “learn lots of new things, all bad,” said the Rev. Steven Boes, the national executive director of Boys Town.

Boes told the story of one youth who spent 75 days in jail with more serious juvenile offenders because of a string of drug and theft offenses. He learned to become more violent and decided school “was a joke” and grew more distant.

Eventually he was sent to Boys Town, and he and his family received help through counseling. An undiagnosed problem with attention-deficit disorder was also found, and he's ready to go back home, Boes said.

While such treatment costs money, Boes contended that in the long run, it can save as much as $2 million per juvenile in reduced law enforcement costs and increased contributions to society through taxes and better employment.

Omaha City Councilman Ben Gray, Douglas County Board member Chris Rodgers, Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes and former U.S. Rep. John Cavanaugh, now the head of Omaha's Building Bright Futures school-improvement initiative, all testified in general support of Ashford's proposals.

Representatives of the Nebraska State Bar Association were supportive but raised several concerns about shifting the burden of decision-making in a juvenile's case from judges to police and probation officers.

Police officers in the “heat of the moment” might not be the best judges of whether an angry, spitting kid needs a ticket to criminal court or a ride to an assessment center under a civil citation, said Brad White, a Hastings attorney who testified for the bar association.

Other concerns raised included that rural areas might not have the resources to comply with the bills.

Ashford said he plans to amend his proposals to address the concerns before seeking to advance them to the full Legislature.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com

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