Editorial
Bill aligns juvenile treatment with redemptive goals
Indiana for years has lacked a critical mechanism to protect some of the state s most vulnerable citizens: children charged with crimes.
There now is no system in place for determining the competency of children navigating the state s juvenile justice system, an omission that s left lawyers and judges struggling to find ways to help children who might not understand the trouble they re in or the next steps in their cases.
A bill that so far has had wide bipartisan support in the Indiana General Assembly would change that and implement needed safeguards for children.
Judge Pratt announces retirement
Journal Gazette
Allen Superior Court Judge Charles F. Pratt announced Monday he ll retire May 1 after more than 22 years on the bench of the court s Family Relations Division.
Pratt has been part of the Allen County judiciary more than 40 years. He was a law clerk from 1979-1980 and was elected judge in 1998, taking office in 1999. He was reelected in 2004, 2010 and 2016.
From 1985 until he became a judge, Pratt was a magistrate in the Family Relations Division. Before that, he was a judicial referee in Superior Court s Civil Division.
As a judge, Pratt has presided mainly over family relations, adoption and children in need of services cases. He has handled more than 200 adoptions each year and organized an annual Adoption Day for almost 15 years.