THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 25, 1996 TAG: 9603250073
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Attorney General Janet Reno said Sunday the nation's courts must focus on the problem of juvenile crime.
Reno, speaking at a 25th anniversary conference of the National Center for State Courts, also urged the development of a pilot program that would combine courts and various community services to combat youth violence.
Judges don't need to become social workers, she said, but a judge ``can be an absolutely key player in getting children off on the right foot.''
The three-day conference, which ends today, drew about 350 judges, court administrators, lawyers and law professors from around the country to discuss the future of the nation's judicial system.
Reno said state courts - ``the front line of our criminal justice system'' - traditionally have been laboratories for reform in judicial administration, and they should continue to perform that role.
``It is the state courts all across our land that deal with the problems other institutions have failed to solve,'' she said.
But federal law enforcement agencies can assist the states in cases where jurisdiction and lines of authority become blurred, Reno said.
The policy of the Justice Department is to cooperate with state authorities, not engage in turf battles, Reno said.
The pilot juvenile crime prevention program envisioned by the attorney general would involve police, prosecutors, judges, educators, public health officials and employment counselors, among others, in a comprehensive community effort aimed at young people.
``We can do so much if we look at the family and the community as a whole,'' Reno said.
Most of the officials attending the conference - about 40 percent are judges and 40 percent are court administrators - said the greatest challenge the courts face in the future is strengthening ties to the people they serve.
They also agreed that the past quarter-century of court reform has improved judicial efficiency.
But Reno said reforming criminal justice won't achieve much if courts don't pay more attention to youth crime. She said it bothers her to hear judges say their last choice in assignments is juvenile court. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Attorney General Janet Reno, in Williamsburg Sunday, wants a pilot
program melding courts and community services to combat youth
violence.
by CNB