Justice Department Report Finds Bias in St. Louis County Family Court

The U.S. Justice Department issued a scathing report Friday, saying the Family Court of St. Louis County has failed to ensure the youth have adequate legal representation, failed to make sure there is probable cause that the children committed offenses they were accused of, and failed to ensure that guilty pleas by black children are entered voluntarily.

The investigation was initiated in 2013, addressing issues that drew increased scrutiny last year after the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black, by a white police officer in Ferguson, a St. Louis County town.

More protests are planned next week in the St. Louis area, around the August 9 one-year anniversary of Brown’s death.

The report says the Justice Department could pursue litigation but will seek mutual agreement to resolve violations.

The department says while concerns about juvenile justice systems around the country, St. Louis County stands out. The department is taking a similar tack following a report released in March alleging racial bias and profiling by police and the municipal court in Ferguson.

Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta calls the findings “serious and compelling”. Gupta said at a news conference that an initial meeting with family court officials was “cordial and cooperative”.

“Given the substantial infrastructure already in existence in the Missouri juvenile justice system, and the commitment to children articulated by the Court officials and other stakeholders with whom we spoke during this investigation, we believe that the remedial measures identified in this Report are obtainable.”

“In short, black children are subjected to harsher treatment because of their race”, Gupta wrote in a letter to Gov. Jay Nixon, Stenger and Family Court Administrative Judge Thea Sherry. The staggering caseload of the sole public defender assigned to handle all indigent juvenile delinquency cases in the county, an arbitrary system of appointing private attorneys for children who do not qualify for public defender services, the flawed structure of the family court, and significant delays in appointing counsel to children following detention hearings are all factors that contribute to this constitutional deprivation of counsel.

“These conflicts of interest are contrary to separation of powers principles and deprive children of adequate due process”, Gupta wrote.

Justice has launched dozens of these investigations since Congress passed a law in 1994 that allowed the department to sue local agencies over violations of constitutional or federal law. The department in March announced an investigation of due process and disability discrimination concerns in Dallas.