Washington Courts: Press Release DetailSupreme Court symposium May 20 to explain new science in adolescent brain developmentMay 14, 2014
Implications for juvenile justice system examined OLYMPIA — State Supreme Court justices on May 20 will hear from national and state experts on advancements in adolescent brain development and how those advancements are changing the way the U.S. Supreme Court now looks at youth behavior and involvement in the criminal justice system.
The symposium, “Looking To the Future: Adolescent Brain Development and the Juvenile Justice System,” is presented by the Washington State Minority & Justice Commission with support from the Center for Children and Youth Justice based in Seattle, and the national MacArthur Foundation.
The presentation is open to the public and is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, May 20 at the Temple of Justice on the Capitol Campus in Olympia. It will also be filmed by TVW.
The symposium will look at what is known about the adolescent brain and the evolving jurisprudence being adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court around new developments in juvenile justice. The symposium will also highlight programs in Washington state that model some of the innovative ways youth can be diverted from the system.
“We know adolescence is the time when a person is most capable of change and of being influenced. Knowledge about the developmental stages of adolescence is the skeletal framework for exploring polices that might make our juvenile justice system even more effective,” said King County Superior Court Judge Mary Yu, co-chair of the Minority & Justice Commission.
“This Symposium is an extraordinary opportunity for our Supreme Court to play a leadership role in examining the myriad of issues in our juvenile justice system, especially in light of the fact that racial and ethnic disparity still exists,” Yu said. “This open forum invites us all to continue exploring new and innovative ways to hold young people accountable while promoting positive legal socialization and reducing the number of youth of color who come into our criminal justice system.”
Judge Yu has been appointed to the state Supreme Court by Governor Jay Inslee to replace retired Justice James Johnson, who stepped down at the end of April. She will be sworn in to serve as the newest justice on the Court on May 20 directly following the symposium.
Symposium speakers will include Dr. BJ Casey, director of the Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychology in New York; Marsha Levick, deputy director and chief counsel of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia; King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg; Clark County Juvenile Court Administrator Pat Escamilla, and a youth panel facilitated by Kim Ambrose, Senior Law Lecturer, University of Washington School of Law.
At a reception following the symposium will be a special presentation of a portrait of retired Washington Supreme Court Justice Charles Z. Smith, by artist Alfredo Arreguin. Justice Smith was the first ethnic minority to serve on the State Supreme Court, and he served for many years as co-chair of the Minority & Justice Commission.
The Washington State Minority & Justice Commission was established by the state Supreme Court in 1990 to determine whether racial and ethnic bias exists in the courts of Washington and to take creative steps to overcome and prevent it. The Commission grew out of a task force established in 1988 at the urging of state legislators.
The Center for Children & Youth Justice was founded by retired Washington Supreme Court Justice Bobbe Bridge to improve the lives of youth involved in the state’s foster care and juvenile justice systems. The Center works in partnership with parents, advocates and policymakers to advance innovative approaches to systemic changes.
The MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the U.S. The Foundation chose Washington as one of four core states to receive substantial grants from its Models For Change program which works to improve the juvenile justice system. Washington was chosen because of its use of evidence-based interventions with juvenile offenders and its progress combating disproportionate minority contact in the state’s juvenile justice and child welfare systems.
CONTACT: Danielle Pugh-Markie, manager, Washington State Minority & Justice Commission, (360) 705-5290, or Lorrie Thompson, communications officer for the Administrative Office of the Courts, (360) 705-5347.
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