JuCR 1.6 - Physical Restraints in the Courtroom

• Proposed New Rule JuCR 1.6 - Physical Restraints in the Courtroom (in Word Format)
• Comments Received for JuCR 1.6 - Physical Restraints in the Courtroom

Suggested Juvenile Court Rule 1.6 addresses the routine shackling of juveniles in courtrooms in Washington absent an individualized determination that restraints are necessary to maintain order and prevent injury. The suggested rule would create a procedure to ensure that juveniles brought before juvenile courts in Washington would not appear in shackles unless the court found that there were no less restrictive means to ensure the safety of the court and to allow for orderly proceedings; it would not prohibit the use of shackles in every case.

Washington courts recognize that juveniles’ due process rights are implicated when they are restrained during court proceedings.¹ Forty-five years ago, the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967) held that juveniles are entitled to the same procedural rights as adults in court proceedings. Adoption of this rule would ensure those procedural rights in all juvenile courts in Washington.

There is currently no court rule establishing a standard procedure for removing shackles from a youth prior to his or her appearance in juvenile court. Washington State courts vary widely in the use of shackles. A survey conducted by University of Washington Law Students found that both juvenile offenders and status offenders are routinely shackled in juvenile courtrooms in a majority of the counties in the state, including Thurston, Pierce and Snohomish counties. Only one county, Chelan, has adopted a court order prohibiting the routine shackling of youth. In this rural county, shackling is permitted only when deemed necessary by the juvenile court judge or commissioner.² Several larger counties, including King, Clark, Yakima and Spokane, do not shackle juveniles. Like the newly adopted Court rule in Chelan, suggested JuCR 1.6 would presume that juveniles appear unshackled and would not require a juvenile to request removal of restraints.

Suggested JuCR 1.6 would provide a standard procedure for the court to determine whether a juvenile should be shackled in the courtroom. A judge would be required to make a finding on the record that shackles are the least restrictive means to ensure that the courtroom will be secure and orderly. The suggested rule would require that any physical restraint be removed prior to the youth’s appearance before the court unless the judge deemed the use of restraints necessary. This suggested procedure would provide a meaningful safeguard to ensure that every youth in Washington State has equal access to justice in the juvenile court system.

¹ State v. E.J.Y. 113 Wn. App. 940, 951-952, P.3d 673 (2002).

² Chelan county Juvenile Court GENERAL ORDER Number 2010-01 In re: SHACKLING OF JUVENIL DETAINEES APPEARING IN COURT