VIII. Proceedings involving minors

Overview

District of Columbia

The D.C. Superior Court Rules Governing Juvenile Proceedings specifically provide that “the general public shall be excluded from judicial hearings concerning juvenile delinquency or persons in need of supervision.” Super. Ct. Juv. R. 53(a)(1); see also D.C. Code § 16-2316(e). Nonetheless, “a person having a proper interest in a particular case or in the work of the Family Court may be admitted,” Super Ct. Juv. R. 53(a)(1), and “[a]ny authorized representative of the news media” are among the persons who “shall be deemed to have a proper interest in the work of the Family Court, and shall be admissible to Family Court proceedings after filling out an application pursuant to” Rule 53(a)(1). See Super. Ct. Juv. R. 53(a)(3). Among other things, the applicant is required to state that he or she “will refrain from divulging information identifying the respondent or members of the respondent’s family or any other child involved in the proceedings.” Id. at 53(a)(1).

Interpreting these rules in In re J.D.C., 594 A.2d 70 (D.C. 1991), the D.C. Court of Appeals directed that all media be excluded from proceedings in the trial of a juvenile charged in a shooting death, where the juvenile had already been identified in an article in The Wall Street Journal. The court held that the admission of the press at juvenile proceedings was a “discretionary” determination for the trial court. Id. at 75. In particular, the court explained: “[I]f there is no reasonable assurance that the admission of the press will be consistent with the protection of a juvenile respondent’s anonymity, then exclusion may be the only alternative which will not compromise the legislature’s paramount aim.” Id.