Evening star., 1951-06-29

Juvenile Court Post
In Protest on Policy
Continued From First Page)
Mrs. Grace Bell. supervisor in th,
adult department OF the Juvenil.
sG Court, is announced. Mrs. Bel
came to the court September as
1850. Her resignation has beer
contemplated for several months
and has been accepted effective
today"
The word today" was under
lined. s 81
Sees Morale Damaged. @ 81.
Mrs. Bell. in her letter il resig-
nation, declared that staff morale
at the court has been seriously
damaged" by the arbitrary re-
versal of philosophy and policy
at the court.
Although Judge Cockrill said
changes in the court recommend
ed by the Juvenile Court study
committee would be discussed
with the staff, Mrs. Bel said this
has not been done.
In an accompanying interview,
Mrs. Bell cited cases in support
OF her view that "the narrow
focus on the rigid Interpretation
OF the law, section by section.
has ignored human needs. in
spite Of every indication that
such action would speed up the
breakdown Of the individual or
family"
"The law" she said, 'is being
used as mean Of controlling
others. What other conclusion
can be drawn from such action as
citing two young girls for con-
tempt of court?
Girl Fined for Contempt.
Both girls had sought the help
Of the court in getting support
for their babies. One of them. a
l5-year-old, failed to appear for
the trial and the Judge had her
arrested, despite the fact that she
was the complaining witness and
not the defendant. When the
marshal brought her in, she ex-
planned that she had been i'll, but
sshe was ordered to pay a SIS fine
or spend five days in the Receiv-
ing Home.
: The Judge did not trouble to
find out what would happen to
the girls baby while she was inl
detention, or that the girls mother
/ was dead and her father took little
responsibility for her. She was
q juvenile. in need of help, not
an adult willfully failing. to obey
q summons.
'"The other girl, a 16-year-old. |
was sentenced to 10 days in the
Receiving Home for contempt of |
court because she did not answer
the judges questions. She ex-
planned afterwards she was too
frightened to speak reaction
neither unusual nor difficult tot
recognize.
But the complaint Of the girls /
mother that the girl wasn't caring
for her baby led to the judges
advising the mother to take the |
unique step of filing non-sup-
port claim against This youngster. |
Here obviously was a disturbed |
family in need of the help of a |
family agency. All the legal res
traints and punishments Of the |
court will not help that girl and
her baby"
Cites Punishment Emphasis.
Mrs. Bell said the emphasis on
punishment was also illustrated |
In the case Of a 90-day jail SEN
tence for 17-year-old for failing
to support his illegitimate child
when he could not even support
himself.
But more devastating to
legitimate family" she added.
"was the 60-day sentence meted
out to a man for failing to support
an illegitimate child. In that
case, the mans legitimate family
was punished. His wife and three
legitimate children were left with
out their breadwinner. They had
no support and it was even neces-
sary for the oldest of the three
to stay home from school for lack
Of food and clothing. l.
Mrs Bell said she believed a
basic court function was the pre-
vention Of delinquency. She cited
this case to illustrate failure to
think along those lines:
IAN unmarried mother had left,
q small child with its father and
proposed that he adopt it. The
father cared about the child but
was unmarried, had no home oil
his own and asked the workers.
help in planning for the boys fu-
ture. The worker and the father
were discussing the idea of having
the Child Welfare Division help,
him work out a good plan for the
child.
Adoption Is Advised.
I'm the court hearing suspend
ing further support payments to-
the mother, the Judge advised the
father to get lawyer and adopt
the child. This ignored such ques-
tions as whether District Court
would allow an unmarried man
without a home of his own ro
adopt a child. II this child is
shunted from place to place, as
appears inevitable now, what seeds
Of future delinquency are being
planted?"
In her letter notifying the Judge
she was transferring to another
agency, Mrs. Bell said she had
informed John Larkin, the acting
director Of social work, June /.
..I-s.