The courts say they are committing only those youths who are dangerous to themselves and others, and there are ways to review cases where children appeared to have been wrongly committed. But ironically, officials in the Symington administration claim judges are committing too many youths who should not be held in state institutions, and assessing sentences that are far too lengthy.
The continued overcrowding of the state's juvenile facilities raises one possible consequence juvenile judges clearly want to avoid: releasing dangerous youths before their sentences are served.
Rather than allow such releases, the courts are discussing the possibility of flying juveniles out of state--to Youth Services International facilities, if necessary.
Maricopa County Attorney Richard Romley's lawsuit is meant to break the juvenile justice logjam, forcing Symington to order juvenile corrections to take those youths committed by juvenile judges. If Romley wins the lawsuit, the state runs the risk of being held in contempt by the federal court should it violate the population limits.
The lawsuit may have served some of its purposes. The department announced last week that it has reduced its population below the federal court-ordered level--making it in full compliance with the consent decree.
"We have beds available," department spokesman Steve Meissner says.
But there is a large backlog of youth awaiting transfer to the juvenile corrections' three institutions.
More than 40 boys and a handful of girls are spending their nights on the floor at Maricopa County's Durango Juvenile Detention facility.
Each evening, the kids there--dressed in yellow, red, white and blue tee shirts that signify ranks, based on behavior in custody--pull mattresses stacked in closets onto the floor of an activity room.
The room is quiet. The youngsters, many of whom have committed serious crimes, cannot talk without permission of their unit directors.
Some of the juveniles, who range in age from 10 to 17, are waiting for hearings before juvenile court judges.
Others soon will be released back into their communities.
A handful is waiting to be transferred to one of the juvenile corrections department's institutions for a lengthy stay.
With no place to go, the kids end up in the county's two juvenile detention centers--centers designed to hold kids for an average of two weeks. Those kids awaiting transfer to the juvenile corrections department's institutions may be here a long while.
How long, no one knows.
"We expect this overcrowding to continue for months," says Cheri Townsend, Maricopa County's juvenile probation officer.
