Sobre a publicidade e segredo dos processos na justiça juvenil

0. O Estado de Washington aprovou  uma lei, no passado mês de Junho, invertendo as regras relativas à publicidade dos registos de processos de justiça juvenil.
   
   Sumário do relatório independente do conteúdo da lei:
   Courts must hold regular hearings to seal juvenile court records, which will be sealed administratively unless the court receives an objection or the court receives a compelling reason not to seal, in which case, there will be a contested sealing hearing. A respondent must be provided at least 18 days' notice of any contested sealing hearing, but the respondent is not required to appear at either an administrative or contested sealing hearing.
   A court must schedule an administrative sealing hearing during disposition of a juvenile offender matter to occur after a respondent turns 18 and completes probation, confinement, or parole.
   A court may not seal a juvenile court record during a regularly scheduled sealing hearing if one of the offenses is:
   Ÿ a most serious offense; Ÿ a sex offense; or
   Ÿ a drug offense.
   A respondent must complete the terms of his or her disposition, including affirmative conditions and financial obligations in order to have a court seal his or her juvenile court record during a regularly scheduled sealing hearing.
   If a contested sealing hearing is held, the court shall enter a written order sealing the juvenile court record unless the court determines that sealing is not appropriate.
   The court must enter an order immediately sealing the juvenile court record after an acquittal or dismissal of charges.
   Any adjudication of a juvenile offense or crime subsequent to sealing nullifies a sealing order. The court may, however, order the juvenile record resealed upon disposition of the subsequent matter if the case meets the sealing criteria.
   

If an individual's juvenile court record has been sealed, the record of an employee is not admissible in an action for liability against the employer based on conduct of the former juvenile offender to show that the employer knew or should have known about the juvenile record of the employee. However, the record may be admissible if a background check conducted by the employer contained information from the sealed record.

The Caseload Forecast Council may permit access to caseload forecast data for research purposes, but only if the anonymity of all persons mentioned in the records or information will be preserved. 

Pode ler-se o relatório na íntegra 

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