Shortsighted cuts to Juvenile Court
The Shelby County commissioners who gave preliminary approval to Commissioner Henri Brooks’ amendment removing $300,000 for Juvenile Court from the coming year’s budget are playing with fire.
The money would be used to pay for stipulations in a memorandum of agreement the court and the county mayor’s administration reached with the U.S. Department of Justice to carry out federally mandated Juvenile Court reforms. The court had asked for $1 million. The commission on Monday approved $700,000 to upgrade medical-related deficiencies cited by the Justice Department.
The $300,000 appropriation commissioners rejected would have paid for other mandates spelled out in the memorandum of agreement, including court monitors, alternatives-to-detention initiatives, and computer software that allows better collection of data on how youths, especially African-Americans, are handled when they are referred to the court.
The Justice Department last spring issued a scorching report that found systematic violations of minors’ rights at Juvenile Court. The report resulted from a multiyear investigation of court procedures initiated after Brooks traveled to Washington to file a complaint against the court.
Juvenile Court and county administration officials later signed the agreement with Justice Department attorneys aimed at correcting physical and procedural deficiencies and better protecting youngsters’ due-process rights.
Some commissioners — most notably, Brooks — are still ticked off because the commission was not involved in the settlement discussions. Brooks also is unhappy with the monitors the Justice Department selected to oversee progress on the reforms.
But the animosity Brooks and some of her colleagues are displaying over the settlement is wasted energy at this point.
The commission will have two opportunities to restore the $300,000 before finalizing the budget for the fiscal year that begins next month.
Failure to fund the mandatory stipulations would be a shortsighted move that could result in punitive repercussions from the Justice Department.
Commissioner Heidi Shafer last week warned her colleagues what that could mean: a lot more than $300,000 being spent in a legal battle with the Justice Department if the county’s compliance with the agreement is challenged.