Skip to Main Content
T 803.734.1343    F 803.734.1345
Link to SCCID Home

Conference Details« Back

Juvenile Defense 101 - 2021

10/29/2021
Juvenile Defense Workshop provides a valuable training experience for South Carolina Public Defenders and 608 Contract Attorneys who represent juvenile defendants.
Friday | October 29, 2021 - Friday | October 29, 2021
803-270-7657

Public Defense Fundamental Advocacy Skills Training - Part 1j


South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense is proud to present Juvenile Defense 101: Fundamentals of Juvenile Defense presenting essential information and resources for South Carolina Public Defenders and Indigent Defense Contract Attorneys representing juvenile defendants. 

 

 

 Webex Instructions:

When you click to join the meeting, if prompted, install or run the Webex App.  You can go ahead and install the Webex Meetings App from here: https://www.webex.com/downloads.html

When you join the event, make sure that the option to "use computer for audio" is selected.

Test your setup to make sure your correct speakers are selected.  If you don't hear the test sound, just keep going down the list of available sound output devices until you do.

If viewing in a browser, you may need to deactivate your pop-up blocker.  Google search for how to do that in the browser you are using.
Cost:

 FREE

Notice:  This Workshop is open only to:

  • South Carolina juvenile public defenders who are either employed in a circuit public defender office or contracted directly with a circuit public defender office

OR

  • Indigent Defense Contract Attorneys who handle juvenile cases as part of their contract.

 
 Registration:

Click Button to Register:

Register

CLE Credit:

MCLE Course #  910546ADO 

5.5 Hours  MCLE credit

Including 2 hours LEPR credit

 

Experience Level:

This workshop provides and introduction to the juvenile defense process, but should be valuable for juvenile defense attorneys of all experience levels.

When:

October 29, 2021

09:15 am to 4:00 pm

 

Where:

 Webex Online Workshop

 

Tentative Agenda:

 

 

120 minutes

Ethical Considerations in Juvenile Cases:

the role and responsibilities of the Juvenile Defender in relation to the client; the client’s cognitive abilities; the parent or guardian, and the court; COVID-19 related ethical issues; interviewing and counseling the youth client.
 


120 Minutes

Nuts and Bolts: Navigating the Juvenile Court Process

+

Dispositional Advocacy in the COVID Era:  Strategies for Effective Representation

Overview of the SC Children’s Code; Pre-disposition preparation; Theory of disposition; A developmental framework for disposition; Direct and collateral consequences of juvenile adjudication.
   

90 minutes

Tackling Detention Hearings (In-person and Virtual)

Probable cause hearings; dangers of detention; eligibility for detention; making a release plan; statutory, constitutional and developmental considerations at detention hearings; use of racial and ethnic disparity data at detention hearings


 

 
 Format:

Lecture & Breakout Workshops

 
 Faculty:

 Dr. Aleksandra Chauhan:  In the fall of 2019 Dr. Aleksandra Chauhan obtained an OJJDP grant to start a Juvenile Defender Advocate position at the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense. In this position Dr. Chauhan focuses on South Carolina juvenile justice data collection and training and support of juvenile defense attorneys in the state. Prior to that, Dr. Chauhan was an assistant public defender in Richland County, SC. In 2015-2016, she obtained two federal grants to open a Youth Reentry Program at the Public Defender’s Office. The Youth Reentry team that she supervised consisted of a social worker, youth advocates and a civil attorney. It focused on holistic representation of the youth. Dr. Chauhan received her Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. During her doctoral studies she focused on researching the Convention on the Rights of the Child. After obtaining her Ph.D., she studied law and in 2013 received her J.D. at the USC School of Law. In addition to representing youth, Dr. Chauhan is on the Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee for Children’s Rights and is on the Advisory Committee of the Southern Juvenile Defense Center. Dr. Chauhan has presented keynotes and workshops on issues of reentry and trauma at local, national and international conferences. She is actively involved in creating systemic change in her community and raising awareness about needs and challenges youth face in their communities. Dr. Chauhan was recognized as a 2017 Juvenile Public Defender of the Year and is a 2020 recipient of the Ambassador for Racial Justice scholarship.

 

Samantha Luck, Assistant Public Defender, 5th Judicial Circuit

Ms. Luck is currently a juvenile public defender for the Richland County Public Defender’s Office and previously worked as the sole juvenile public defender in Lexington County.  Prior to becoming a juvenile public defender, Ms. Luck worked as an attorney for Richland County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), representing volunteer court-appointed Guardian ad Litems for children in the foster care system.  In addition to her experience in the area of juvenile defense, Ms. Luck worked for a number of years at Disability Rights South Carolina (formerly Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc. – P&A), where she represented students with disabilities in public primary and secondary education, ensuring the protection and enforcement of students’ rights under the IDEA, Section 504, and the ADA. 

Ms. Luck obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of South Carolina. She later obtained her J.D. from USC in 2009.  While attending law school, Ms. Luck worked as a law clerk for the Richland County Public Defender Office in the juvenile court division and during that time, also became a court-appointed volunteer Guardian ad Litem.  Ms. Luck serves on the S.C. Bar’s Children Law Committee, is a Certified Juvenile Training Immersion Program (JTIP) Trainer and was a participant in the 2017 JTIP Summer Academy. 

Ms. Luck has been a strong advocate for youth in S.C. throughout her legal career and believes wholeheartedly in fighting for the rights of children, especially for those in the criminal justice system. She believes that by investing in community services and programs aimed at addressing the needs of youth, rather than incarceration, youth will have much greater success at rehabilitation and better outcomes in the future.