COUNTYWIDE : ACLU Attacks Court Orders on Juveniles

Civil rights attorneys are seeking to overturn two court orders that they contend violate the privacy rights of thousands of Orange County juveniles by allowing schools and law enforcement officials to share confidential records.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the 4th District Court of Appeal, the American Civil Liberties Union claims that Orange County Superior Court Judge C. Robert Jameson went beyond his authority when he signed the two orders in March and December of 1989.

“In one fell swoop (the judge) circumvented the rights of 100,000 juveniles,” said Michael Linfield, a volunteer attorney for the ACLU who filed the lawsuit. “The orders are horrendously vague.”

The orders, he said, allow the county’s Probation Department, the district attorney’s office and all schools and police agencies to share court and school records on any youth involved in or at “significant risk” of becoming involved in gangs or alcohol use.

Linfield said that the orders, as written, could apply to a large majority of juveniles in the county. “Who’s to say what ‘at risk’ means?” he said.

Before the orders, Juvenile Court and school records were normally closed to outside authorities or agencies unless they had a court’s permission. Also, Linfield said, parents were required to be notified if confidential school information on their child was being released. Under these orders, however, no notification is necessary, he said.

Jameson, who was a Juvenile Court judge at the time he signed the orders but now is hearing civil cases in Superior Court, declined to comment.

Assistant Dist. Atty. John Conley, who drafted the orders signed by Jameson, said they were written, in part, to combat the gang and alcohol problems among students and allow school and law enforcement officials to work together without fear of violating any state regulations.

“The aims (of the orders) are certainly noble,” said Conley, who had not seen the ACLU lawsuit. “They don’t require that information be given, (they) just empower (officials) to do so. . . . I’ve never heard of any abuse.”