As reported by nj.com, unruly juveniles housed at any of the state’s facilities for young offenders are entitled to a hearing before they are transferred to a state prison, a state appeals court panel ruled yesterday. Teens under the jurisdiction of the state Juvenile Justice Commission need more than same-day notice of the transfer, the court said.

“The transfer of a juvenile to an adult prison significantly changes the focus of the incarceration away from rehabilitation and toward security and punishment. For those reasons, we conclude that there must be a sufficient level of procedural due process to protect the juvenile’s interests,” Judge Alexander Waugh Jr. wrote for the three-member panel. The decision reverses the November 4, 2011 transfer of a Cumberland County resident, identified fictitiously in the 28-page decision as Jones, to South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton and requires Juvenile Justice Commission staff to give him a hearing for a chance to contest the transfer.

A juvenile when he committed his crimes, Jones was 18 when he was sent first to a JJC facility in Yardville in January 2011 and then to a medium-security facility in Bordentown where he had several disciplinary infractions, including assaulting staff. Without his knowledge, JJC staff decided to transfer him to state prison, as allowed by law. But the court noted he was not notified of the review, the JJC’s recommendation and approval for transfer or the Department of Corrections’ approval to accept him. On the day of the transfer, he was not permitted to call his mother, who was not notified of his relocation for several days. The decision, which also included Judges Mary Catherine Cuff and Marie Lihotz, noted neither his attorney nor the family court judge who sentenced him to up to four years in a juvenile facility was notified.

The state’s Juvenile Justice Code, which took effect in 1983, was intended to involve family more in a juvenile’s case and use discipline not as harsh or rigid as prison for juveniles with less serious offenses.

Tags: Articles, Corrections Officers, due process, inmates, JJC, Juvenile Justice Commission, NJ Public Safety Officers, NJDOC, prison transfer
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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.

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