Page 265 - 2024 Orientation Manual

Committee’s most recent education work mentioned above such as, CINC related proceedings,
Trauma-Informed Lawyering, Special Education Services in Juvenile Facilities, and working with
Children in the Virtual World. Members are working on other articles to be published at later dates.

In January 2024 the Children’s Law Committee members co-hosted (along with LSPD Committee
and the Language Access Committee) a skills training session with students at LSU Law School’s
“Apprenticeship Week,” where students took turns practicing hypothetical interviews with people
with disabilities, children, and limited English proficiency clients.

Current committee efforts focus on the integration Trauma Informed Care practices into Louisiana
courts and the benefit of mutual awareness and collaboration among judges in Child In Need of
Care (CINC) and juvenile delinquency proceedings.

Criminal Justice Committee, Co-Chairs Norma Dubois and Barksdale Hortenstine, Vice-
Chair Jean Faria
The mission of the Criminal Justice Committee is to recognize and address issues affecting the
Louisiana criminal justice system, provide a forum for discussion, and work with stakeholders to
develop programs and solutions for fair and effective administration of justice. Representing a
diverse group of stakeholders in the criminal justice system, the Committee brings together LSBA
members that include Judges, prosecutors, public defenders, private defense lawyers, and non-
profit legal organizations.

For several years, the Committee has hosted a Summit to engage criminal justice leaders from
across the state in a series of highly interactive working group sessions that focus on ways to
address systemic issues including funding, incarceration rates, mental health, and sentencing
reform. Recommendations are often presented to the committee and bar leadership.

In 2012, the Committee worked with the Louisiana State Law Institute’s Expungement Reform
Task Force to bring stakeholders together and develop recommendations for a revised
expungement statute that would improve the process and make clearing criminal records available
for more people. In 2016, the committee created resources to assist private attorneys appointed in
criminal cases and increase transparency of the funding crisis in the criminal justice system. In
2017, the committee focused on the work of the Justice Reinvestment Task Force created under
2015 HCR 82 to analyze the drivers of Louisiana’s incarceration rates, provide recommendations
to reduce incarceration, and use the cost savings to reinvest in areas that provide for continued
reduction in incarceration and recidivism rates. Based on this work, the committee proposed
Resolution 9, approved by the House of Delegates in January 2017. Additionally, the committee
hosted a CLE mini-summit event with members of the Task Force, including chair Sec. LeBlanc,
to discuss their recommendations and legislative bills drafted in accordance with Resolution 9. In
2019, the Committee hosted a summit to address the prevalence of mental illness experienced by
people who encounter the criminal justice system. More recently, the Committee hosted a virtual
summit on the same issue of mental health and criminal justice. The event attracted a record
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