HD60 - Report on the Adjudication of the Insanity Defense in Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings


Executive Summary:
The 1999 General Assembly enacted House Joint Resolution 680 requesting The Virginia Bar Association to "study the adjudication of the insanity defense in juvenile delinquency proceedings" and to "examine the state's policies, procedures, and services applicable to these issues with a goal of developing statutory guidance and the mechanisms to implement a new law". In fulfilling this legislative request, The Virginia Bar Association established an advisory task force to assist it in the study reported herein.

The task force included Virginia Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judges, and representatives from the: Office of the Attorney General, Executive Committee of The Virginia Bar Association (and its substantive law sections and committees), Virginia College of Criminal Defense Attorneys, Commonwealth's Attorneys' Services Council, Virginia State Bar Criminal Law Section, Department of Juvenile Justice, Department of Criminal Justice Services, Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse Services, Virginia Association of Community Service Boards, the University of Richmond School of Law, Washington and Lee School of Law, University of Virginia School of Law, Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, and mental health service providers.

The study included five components: task force review and deliberations (convening in full group five times between June and November 1999), a review of the legal and clinical literature, a statewide survey of Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judges, a national survey of relevant statutory and case law, and a survey of the experiences of practicing attorneys in other states that have the insanity defense in the juvenile court.