Page 273 - 2019 Orientation Manual

Additional Access to Justice Committees

Children’s Law Committee

The LSBA Children's Law Committee was established to provide a forum through which attorneys
and judges working with children can promote improvements and changes in the legal system
which benefits children, parents and the professionals who serve these families. Over the past
several years, the Committee has emphasized the needs of youth in foster care and/or those
experiencing “Child in Need of Care” (CINC) proceedings. The committee has created
professionally-produced videos on foster care and CINC procedures, and most recently, a mobile
app and physical brochure on the legal rights of young people transitioning out of foster care. In
2019, the Committee coordinated a presentation for students on the rights of special needs students.

Criminal Justice Committee

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. The committee
which represents a diverse group of stakeholders in Louisiana’s Criminal Justice System brings
together LSBA members, representing all sides, to carry out its mission.

For seven years the Criminal Justice Committee has hosted a Criminal Justice Summit in Baton
Rouge, LA bringing together selected criminal justice leaders from across the state. The diverse
group of individuals engage in a series of highly productive work sessions focusing on systemic
issues including funding for the criminal justice system, incarceration rates, and sentencing reform.
A final report and recommendations from Summit participants are approved by the LSBA Board
of Governors and sent to partner organizations and agencies for their use in developing strategic
plan for reform. In addition, the Criminal Justice Committee works to support Resolutions before
the House of Delegates, and with the Louisiana Legislature to study the issues and make
recommendations for legislative reform.

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
(www.lsba.org/cjc). In 2017, the committee focused on the work of the Justice Reinvestment Task
Force created under HCR 82 in 2015 to analyze the drivers of Louisiana’s incarceration rates and
provide recommendations to reduce incarceration and use the cost savings to reinvest in areas that
provide for continued reduction in incarceration and recidivism rates. The committee proposed
Resolution 9 that was 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 health

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