Court Procedures

It has been said that “the court is the second trauma.” It might be better to say the system, rather than the court. The President's Task Force (page 51) recommends a federal study “to evaluate the juvenile justice system from the perspective of the victim.” The system may interview the child time and again, each time making her relive the experience, keeping the wound open. It may force her down to court waiting rooms where she sits uncomfortably without even the accoutrements of a dentist's office for hours and then often to be told that the case was continued and to come back next week. She may be put on a witness stand, in a big formal room, with what seems like a thousand eyes staring at her, and a bailiff in full uniform ready to lock her up, and a judge in a black robe towering above her. She may find that the newspapers and television are full of her name and pictures and stories about what happened to her which they obtained from the official records. And this may make her the focus of her classmates with all the brutal teasing that can involve. The system may also suddenly arrest her father and just as suddenly release him. It may plea bargain away her future hope of rehabilitation without even talking to her, in the name of speedy justice. The system is always more concerned with the well-being of the criminals than of the victims. When children are the victims, surely change can be made. Recommended by the President's Task Force (page 73), a starting point is to require “that judges at both the trial and appellate level(s) participate in a training program addressing the needs and legal interests of crime victims.”