Fort Lauderdale Juvenile Lawyer

Broward County Under A New Juvenile Court System Due To Coronavirus Broward judges who oversee juvenile court cases have discharged justice to their young defendants under exceptional circumstances: No one makes their first appearance before a judge in person anymore. Not adult defendants. Not children. The halls of justice are no longer open to the public. Coronavirus closed them. Loved ones no longer crowd the wooden pews of the courtrooms, offering support to defendants and waiting to hear their friends’ and relatives’ fate. But the justice system has kept on churning. Juvenile justice hearings still happen these days, only via Zoom. Defendants make their case for home detention through muffling, loud cracks and breaks in the conversation. Sometimes public defenders roll their eyes or change their backgrounds. On Friday, after weeks of heated email exchanges between the state Department of Juvenile Justice and the Broward Public Defender’s Office, DJJ administrators acknowledged an employee at the Fort Lauderdale detention center had been carrying the lethal virus. “This is only a trespass case,” Assistant Public Defender Kelsey Moldof said, while lobbying for her client’s release. “Based on the coronavirus pandemic and the fact that the child can’t even be held in the Broward Detention Center as a result of someone testing positive there,” she added, the girl deserved another chance to await her fate in the safety of her parents’ home. Usan arranged for the girl — the Miami Herald is not naming her because she is a minor — to be fitted with a GPS ankle-monitor while awaiting trial or a guilty plea. She had turned herself in on the...

Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Lawyer Advises New Laws

Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Guy Seligman updates on new criminal laws that may effect Fort Lauderdale people who are arrested. Criminal Laws Signed We are advised that there are three criminal reform hat have been  signed into Law. Juvenile Justice CS/SB1552- Juvenile Justice Sponsored by Senator Bracy, the bill, now law, made several changes regarding juvenile arrests. The current law only determines the overall treatment of a prolific juvenile offender (PJO) who is awaiting a disposition, not a PJO who violates the terms of his/her nonsecure detention. (A PJO is a youth with a high risk for recidivism.) Consequently, the new law deals with these violations. Its provisions went  into effect on July 1, 2018. Most notably, the legislation: Requires a PJO who violated conditions of his or her nonsecure detention to be held in secure detention until a detention hearing is held.[1] Revises the Detention Risk Assessment Instrument (DRAI) used to determine placement of a juvenile in detention care.[2] Additionally, SB 1552 supplies new guidelines to be considered in the DRAI. The Department of Juvenile Justice relies on DRAI to evaluate whether a juvenile should be placed in detention care. The bill removed several requirements the DRAI had traditionally included in its assessment, theft of a motor vehicle and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. The aforementioned will take effect in July 1, 2019. The new law refines the wide range of factors that the DRAI uses, and limits them to:[3] pending felony and misdemeanor offenses; offenses committed pending adjudication; prior offenses; unlawful possession of a firearm; violations of supervision; supervision status at the time the child is...