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Guide to DC's Juvenile Justice System Published
The Council for Court Excellence today published a Guide to the DC Juvenile Justice System, in English and Spanish. The guide is the first written roadmap for the general public about how the DC juvenile justice system operates, how a case moves from arrest to discharge, what roles various government and non-governmental agencies and individuals play, and what rights victims of juvenile crime have.
“Last year nearly 3,400 youth were prosecuted in the DC Superior Court’s Juvenile Court,” said Robert Spagnoletti, the former DC Attorney General who led the committee that produced the guide. “For these youth and their families, the system has been utterly bewildering. They have had to rely on information gained in a haphazard fashion and often by word-of-mouth. This has seriously compromised their ability to represent their interests at a very critical time. The information in this guide will be a great help to youth and their families, but it will be just as important to victims of juvenile crime, who also need to know how things work.”
Marie Johns, the Council for Court Excellence’s board chair, explained “When our board decided to focus on improving juvenile justice, we found very quickly that almost no one could explain to us how the system works. That convinced us that our first major juvenile project should be this guide – to bring some transparency to the system.”
Spagnoletti added, “it’s a confidential system as to the identities of the youth, but that makes it even more important for the community to understand how the system works."
The Council for Court Excellence released the guide today at a press conference featuring representatives of several of the DC agencies responsible for the juvenile justice system: Robert Hildum, director of the Public Safety Division of the DC Attorney General’s Office; Michael Satin, supervising attorney in the juvenile section of the Public Defender Service for DC; Judge William Jackson, presiding judge of the DC Superior Court Family Court; and Vincent Schiraldi, director of the DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.
The Council for Court Excellence, a 27-year-old nonprofit DC civic organization, has a long history of publishing other law-related educational guides – to the foster care system, the probate system, the jury system, and the adult criminal system. The Guide to the DC Juvenile Justice System was funded by grants from the State Justice Institute, the Moriah Fund, the Herb Block Foundation, the Philip L. Graham Fund, the Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the George Preston Marshall Foundation, the Mary and Daniel Loughran Foundation, the Dimick Foundation, and the Women’s Bar Association Foundation; with in-kind support from the DC Bar’s Pro Bono Program.
Copies of the English
Guide and the Spanish Guía may be obtained from the Council for
Court Excellence and will be available on the website.
Earl Silbert Elected as CCE President
At its June 11 semi-annual board meeting, the CCE Board of Directors elected Earl Silbert as its President. Earl succeeds Rod Page, who served as CCE President since June 2005.
Earl J. Silbert has been a partner with DLA Piper, based in Washington, DC since 1998. He was formerly a principal with the law firm of Schwalb, Donnenfeld & Silbert in Washington, DC, from 1979 to June 1998. Earl concentrates on white collar crime investigations and trials, civil and criminal tax, securities, defense procurement, environment, health care, and representation of lawyers and law firms on ethical, malpractice, and partnership issues. Prior to entering private practice, he served for nearly twenty years in the government as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (1974-1979), in the Tax Division and Deputy Attorney General's Office of the Department of Justice (1960-1974), and as an Assistant United States Attorney. While in the United States Attorney's Office, Earl, together with two other Assistant US Attorneys, served as the first Watergate prosecutor.
A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Earl has served on the faculty of numerous American Bar Association and other continuing legal education programs, and has written extensively in the areas of white collar crime, the attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine for corporations and their employees, RICO, and other litigation issues.
Earl is past president of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a former chairperson of the Federal District Court Committee on Grievances for the District of Columbia, and a former president of the National Association of Former US Attorneys. He currently serves as a member of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Advisory Commission on Sentencing. He also served as a member of the Practitioners Advisory Group to the United States Sentencing Commission.
In 2009, the Council for Court Excellence honored him with the Justice Potter Stewart Award for his work to improve the judicial system, both as a United Sates Attorney and subsequently in private practice.
The respected English publisher Chambers & Partners cites Earl in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, noting he is "viewed as one of the deans of the white-collar Bar."
In 2007, Washingtonian magazine named him to its list of Washington's top lawyers. Earl has been named a Washington, DC Super Lawyer and among the Top 100 Super Lawyers in the Washington area. He has been listed among Lawdragon's 500 Leading Lawyers in America.
Earl has been married for over 35 years to Pat Silbert, and they are the parents of 2 daughters, Sarah and Leslie.
June 11, 2009 Board Meeting- Remarks by CCE President Rod Page
Former Presidents Tim
May and Rod Page
On June 11, 2009 in his final Board Meeting as the President of the Council for Court Excellence, Rod Page takes time to reflect on both the accomplishments and challenges faced by CCE. Click here to read the remarks.
June 11, 2009 Board Meeting- CCE History Presentation by Rod Page
At the June 11, 2009 Council for Court Excellence Board Meeting, Rod Page presented a powerpoint holistically reviewing the Council's mission. The presentation, which begins with a brief look at 1982 when the Coucil was founded, can be viewed here.
Earl Silbert and MPD Commander Lillian Overton Honored at the 13th Annual Justice Potter Stewart Awards Dinner
The
celebration was held at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce before a record-setting
crowd. The program was covered in Legal Bisnow on May 8. To see the Bisnow
photos, move your cursor over the link below, press the control button
and then click on the link.
Justice Potter Steward Award Photos
Council
for Court Excellence | T 202.785.5917 | F 202.785.5922 | 