Volume 54, Issue 4 Young Lawyers Division Summer 2013 YLD Officers President Jon Pannell, Savannah Juvenile Justice Reform in Georgia
[email protected] by Amy V. Howell and Melissa D. Carter President-Elect Meaningful change takes courage and patience. during a lunch meeting. Toward the Darrell Sutton, Marietta It requires leadership to be steadfastly committed conclusion of his remarks, he charged
[email protected] to a transformative vision. The long arc of juvenile the committee with undertaking a justice reform in Georgia is proof of both points, comprehensive juvenile code rewrite. Treasurer and it all began with an ambitious effort by the He told us that as young lawyers State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Division’s committed to this work we were uniquely Sharri Edenfield, Statesboro Juvenile Law Committee (JLC) in 2005. At the positioned to lead the effort, and his
[email protected] time we could not have fathomed how thousands of conviction made us believe it. At the people and hundreds of organizations would come time we expected our approach would Secretary to see themselves as invested stakeholders in a mirror the code revision projects of other John Ryd Bush “Jack” Long, Augusta public conversation about what is best for Georgia’s Bar sections. The task at hand seemed
[email protected] children. Nor could we have anticipated the diversity deceptively straightforward: get funding, of challenges ahead or the depth of patience the effort hire a reporter, draft a code, work with Immediate Past President would require to come to fruition. Though the project stakeholders to get feedback, revise Stephanie Joy Kirijan, Atlanta started with the YLD, the beauty of the result is that and release the code and then develop it belongs to everyone.