If you want to talk advocacy journalism, take a look at yet another N&R story on Legal Aid’s motion to end the practice of shackling kids in court without judicial review.
That said, I give Lorraine Ahearn credit for digging into the background of the plaintiff, revealing the irony of Legal Aid’s case in the process. Diagnosed as bipolar and aggressive and suffering from post-traumatic stress, Rebecca definitely posed a flight risk, thus requiring that she be shackled in court. The question is how the legal system could have known of her past abuse.
Again, it’s a complicated situation when mentally ill patients enter the justice system. Providing law enforcement officers and officials with proper information and intuition hopefully will help matters.
