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International Juvenile Human Rights Symposium ruler
For Immediate Release
January 17, 2006

Contact:
Kara Tershel, (202) 662-9500

MEDIA ADVISORY
WHAT:
International Juvenile Human Rights Symposium: After Roper v. Simmons:  The Role of International Human Rights Principles in Administering Juvenile Justice in the United States                
WHEN:
Tuesday, January 24, 2006, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
WHERE:
Georgetown University Law Center
Hart Auditorium
McDonough Hall
600 New Jersey Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
KEYNOTE  SPEAKER:

12:00 – 1:30 p.m.  

Laura Denvir Stith, Justice, Missouri Supreme Court and 1978 Georgetown Law graduate; author of the Missouri Court’s Simmons v. Roper opinion holding the juvenile death penalty to be unconstitutional
SCHEDULE:   

9:00 – 9:30 a.m.  Opening Remarks
T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Dean, Georgetown University Law Center
Clare K. Roberts, President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)

9:30 – 10:30 a.m.  Panel One:  International Instruments and Mechanisms of Human Rights Protection
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, IACHR Special Rapporteur on the Rights of the Child          
Carlos Manuel Vázquez, Professor, Georgetown University Law Center
Santiago A. Canton, Executive Secretary, IACHR (moderator)

10:45 – 11:45 a.m.  Panel Two:  New Developments in Child and Adolescent Brain Development
Dr. David Fassler, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont College of Medicine; Fellow, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

1:45 – 2:45 p.m.  Panel Three:  The Role of Counsel and Dignity of the Child
Kristin Henning, Associate Professor, Georgetown University Law Center
Cynthia Price Cohen, ChildRights International Research Institute
Patricia Puritz, Executive Director, National Juvenile Defender Center (moderator)

3:00 – 4:00 p.m.  Panel Four:  Prosecuting Juveniles in Adult Court
Jeffrey Butts, Chapin Hall Center for Children, University of Chicago
Nicholas Bala, Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University
Wallace Mlyniec, Lupo-Ricci Professor of Clinical Studies and Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic, Georgetown University Law Center  (moderator)

4:00 – 4:30 p.m.  Summary and Closing
Stephen Harper, Coordinator, Juvenile Death Penalty Initiative

NOTE:

This conference is sponsored by Georgetown University Law Center, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the National Juvenile Defender Center. 

In its March 2005 opinion in Roper v. Simmons, which struck down the juvenile death penalty as contrary to the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, a majority of the justices on the Supreme Court recognized that international human rights law and principles may be relevant in addressing the constitutional dimensions of juvenile justice issues in the United States.

Through instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the international community has developed specialized rules, principles, and standards that apply to children, including those in conflict with the law, based upon the broadly held view that children are by reason of their physical and mental immaturity entitled to special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection.

This one-day symposium will provide an overview of international and regional human rights law and principles in the area of juvenile justice, their relevance in addressing juvenile justice issues in the United States, and new developments in adolescent brain development that confirm and strengthen the need for specialized treatment of juveniles in accordance with international standards. 

This general overview will be followed by discussions of two current juvenile justice issues in the United States where international law and standards can be relevant and instructive:  the role of counsel and dignity of the child and prosecuting juveniles in adult court.