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19 Judges J. 1 (1980)

handle is hein.journals/judgej19 and id is 1 raw text is: Court News Roundup. MIDYEAR MEETING SYNOPSIS This year, the ABA threw its weight behind the adop- tion of three new volumes of the Juvenile Justice Stan- dards (while postponing a fourth by a close 145-142 vote); it opposed the creation of three new federal level courts; it declined to grant prosecutors the right to ap- peal lenient sentences meted out to criminal defen- dants; it had to reconcile conflicting resolutions on FBI charter and graymail legislation; it voted to back the expansion of interlocutory appeals in federal courts; and it took positions on many other issues as well. The following is a summary of ABA actions taken at the 1980 midyear meeting and the Judicial Admin- istration Division's position on these. The information presented here is based in part on a memorandum that Edward B. McConnell, JAD representative to the House of Delegates, submitted to the Judicial Ad- ministration Division's council. Juvenile Justice Standards. The Judicial Adminis- tration Division supported a recommendation of the Maricopa County Bar Association that the IJA/ABA Joint Commission on Juvenile Justice Standards review, revise, and amend all the standards in accor- dance with ten specific guiding principles, some of which substantially differed from the ten guiding principles used by the commission. This recommen- dation was disapproved by the ABA House of Dele- gates. The JAD also supported the Joint Commission report to recommend passage of four volumes of the standards and to defer until the 1981 midyear meeting the volume on Abuse and Neglect. The ABA House of Delegates approved three addi- tional volumes of the juvenile justice standards- Court Organization and Administration, Juvenile Probation Function, and Juvenile Delinquency and Sanctions-while deferring a fourth one, Noncriminal Misbehavior by a vote of 145-142. The House also deferred the volume on Abuse and Neglect. This brings to 20 the number of volumes now officially a part of the ABA Juvenile Justice Standards. Graymail Legislation. A problem currently facing the government is how to appropriately accommodate and balance the need to avoid unwarranted disclosure of national security information in criminal investiga- tions and trials with the need to assure defendants their right to a fair trial. A number of congressional bills, including H.R. 4736, the Classified Information Criminal Trial Procedures Act, was the focus of discussion and debate. The ABA's Criminal Justice Section initially pro- posed a resolution that would have suported in prin- ciple H.R. 4736. The Standing committee on Law and National Security (formerly called the Standing Com- mittee on Education about Communism) preferred H.R. 4745, which included a Jencks Act exception for classified information. A substitute recommendation by these two ABA groups reconciling their divergent views was passed by the ABA's House of Delegates. FBI Charter. The ABA also voted to support in principle S. 1612 (and its counterpart, H.R. 5030), which establishes a statutory charter for the FBI. Initially, the criminal justice section supported amendments that would make the present charter legislation more restrictive, while the law and national security committee sought amendments to broaden the FBI's power under the charter, but both groups finally agreed on a joint statement. The JAD took no position on this. New Federal Courts. The ABA voted to disapprove the creation of three new federal courts: a Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a U.S. Claims Court as provided in S. 1477, the Federal Courts Improve- ment Act of 1979, and a U.S. Court of Tax Appeals as provided in S. 1691, the Tax Court Improvement Act. The resolution, which was sponsored by the Special Committee on Coordination of Judicial Improve- ments, included a provision reaffirming the Associa- tion's continued cooperation in developing reforms. This resolution had JAD approval. Spanish in the Courts. The ABA approved a resolu- tion allowing certain proceedings and filings in U.S. District court in Puerto Rico to be in Spanish and to permit non-English-speaking Puerto Ricans to serve on grand and petit juries where proceedings are con- ducted in Spanish. The JAD opposed this resolution. Government Appeal of Criminal Sentences. The Standing Committee on Association Standards for Criminal Justice urged the ABA to: (1) defer recon- sideration of any provision in the Standards Relating to Appellate Review of Sentences, which would permit appellate review of sentences at the insistence of the government, until the Supreme Court disposes of United States v. DiFrancesco, and (2) prohibit the

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