JUVENILE JUSTICE - A Look At How One Case Changed The Certification Process

Imagine if your child were arrested and interrogated without your knowledge, without being read his or her rights, or without being taken before a magistrate. Then imagine if your child were certified for trial as an adult and sentenced to 30 years in prison. You're probably thinking, Not my child; only the worst of the worst—violent gang members, repeat offenders, or hardened criminals— are certified as adults.

That's what I thought. Then I got a call from a former colleague, Christene Wood, that began six years of pro bono work culminating in a decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and significant legislative reforms to the juvenile certification system.1

The call concerned a 16-year-old boy named Cameron Moon, a friend of Wood's daughter. Wood had known Moon for a number of years and described him as "a really nice kid." Unfortunately, he had gotten in "some trouble," and a few days earlier the juvenile court had certified him to be tried as an adult. The "trouble" turned out to be an alleged shooting during a drug deal. Moon, however, was not known as the type of child one would expect to be involved in that kind of incident. He was in school, passing his classes, and had no history of gang activity, violence, or disciplinary problems at school.

Moon was unable to afford bail. Like other children deemed "adults," he was now in jail, being kept in solitary confinement 23 hours a day until he turned 17 to "protect" him from the other prisoners. He had no right to appeal the certification order until after his criminal trial.2 Moon was tried as an adult, convicted, and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

As lawyers, we should all want the judicial process to be applied fairly and with integrity; as parents, it is the minimum expectation we should have for our children. When I saw the realities of certification as applied by the juvenile courts in this case, it was clear the process was broken.

ADULT CERTIFICATION: THEORY AND PURPOSE AND THE REALITIES

Juvenile proceedings are civil matters generally governed by the Family Code and the Rules of Civil Procedure.3 The process commonly referred to as certification involves the juvenile court waiving its exclusive original jurisdiction and transferring the child to criminal court.4 It has been characterized as "the single most serious act the juvenile court can perform ... because once waiver of jurisdiction occurs, the child loses all protective and rehabilitative possibilities available."5 Certification is intended to be reserved for "exceptional cases"; the legislative philosophy is that "whenever possible, 'children should be protected and rehabilitated rather than subjected to the harshness of the criminal system. ...' "6

The Family Code is therefore designed to "limit the juvenile court's discretion in making the transfer determination."7 It prohibits courts from certifying...