NCJFCJ Resolves to Stop Indiscriminate Shackling of Children in Juvenile Court

• Published date: 01 September 2015
• Date: 01 September 2015
• Author: Melissa Sickmund
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jfcj.12051

NCJFCJ Resolves to Stop Indiscriminate

Shackling of Children in Juvenile Court

By Melissa Sickmund, Ph.D., Managing Editor

Youth often appear in juvenile court handcuffed and in leg irons and belly chains.

They may pose no threat to others in the courtroom. They may not be a flight risk. The

reason they are shackled may simply be because all youth in that juvenile court are

shackled. Opponents of such indiscriminant shackling of youth in court note that the

practice runs directly counter to the rehabilitative goals of the juvenile justice system and

may cloud the presumption of innocence and impede due process (McLaurin, 2012).

Shackling is humiliating and is not considered a developmentally appropriate response to

youth offending behavior. The Florida Supreme Court (2009) stated that the indiscrimi-

nate shackling of juveniles is “repugnant, degrading, humiliating, and contrary to the

stated primary purposes of the juvenile justice system and to the principles of therapeutic

justice.”

What follows here is the recent resolution passed by the National Council of

Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) regarding the shackling of children in

juvenile court (National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 2015a). The

NCJFCJ defines shackles to include handcuffs, waist chains, ankle restraints, zip ties or

other restraints that are designed to impede movement or control behavior (National

Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 2015a). Recognizing that up to 90% of

justice-involved youth report exposure to some type of traumatic event, the resolution

supports the advancement of a trauma-informed and developmentally appropriate

approach to juvenile justice that limits the use of shackles in court.

“Across the country, tens of thousands of young people are needlessly shackled in

juvenile and family courts,” said David Shapiro, campaign manager for the Campaign

Against Indiscriminate Juvenile Shackling (CAIJS) at the National Juvenile Defender

Center. “The courtroom is the last place this practice should occur. Judges have a unique

responsibility to ensure not only fair outcomes, but also fair processes. They control what

takes place in their courtrooms. The NCJFCJ, the nation’s leading organization of

juvenile and family court judges, has issued a powerful message that the practice of

automatically shackling youth in our courtrooms does not comport with what it means

to be fair and trauma-informed, and that such a practice will no longer be tolerated.

Judges look to the NCJFCJ for guidance. On the issue of shackling in court, the NCJFCJ

position is now clear and direct” (National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges,

2015b).

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Juvenile and Family Court Journal 66, No. 4 (Fall) 49

© 2015 National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges