I learned that juvenile delinquent and juvenile abuse and neglect cases are not open to the public and the filings for the cases are not made public either. Additionally, juvenile adoption and delinquent records are not public access. However, certain judges may open juvenile delinquent records if the reporter can present a convincing position. Some judges believe that printing the names of young offenders will shame them into good behavior. Other records that are not available in Illinois are police reports, which are not public record while the case is under investigation and therefore not subject to FOI requests during that time.
To be an effective court reporter, a journalist should be organized and take initiative. The reporter must track the case through the system so that they don’t miss any important information. The circuit court schedule can be found online so you can determine where you should be and when, because the schedule gives the itinerary for each courtroom. For a good court story, the reporter does not necessarily have to chase down the defendants, victims or attorneys. Anything said in court or found in the file may be reported. This is why it is so important to attend trials through the various stages.
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I was pretty surprised to learn adoption records were private. It's probably a great idea. Wouldn't it be sad to find out you were adopted because of a journalist?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting to hear the judge's thoughts on whether a newspaper should print a juvenile delinquent's name for a crime they commmitted. It's a huge ethical decision. Either you teach the person a lesson by printing their name or prevent them from ever getting a decent job again since everyone will associate their name with the crime. Personally, I wouldn't print the name, but that's just me.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that juvenile cases weren't public before going to court. Personally i some cases I think they should be reported on. Maybe not if it's a real petty crime like stealing soemthing small but it should definitely be open records if it's a major crime. I don't know if it's really about teaching a lesson but a murder or major crime should be told to the public regardless of who did it
ReplyDeleteI think the debate between publishing a juvenille's name to scare or shame them into behaving better or not publishing their name so one doesn't mar their reputation is really interesting. I can see both points of view, and I guess it would depend on the situation for me to decide if it was right to use their name or not.
ReplyDeleteKate,
ReplyDeleteI never knew before that juvenile cases were not open to the public. I do agree with the idea not to publish the names because at such a young age there is a chance to change their path in life.