Juvenile Law Society (JLS)

11/06/2022

American lawyers are charged with service as guardians of justice, the rule of law, and preservation of our American democracy. Historian Jon Meacham delivered a profound message on the very real threat of our democracy this morning as we approach election day this week. Please listen and act.

06/04/2020

I write this message to you on behalf of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, and perhaps, presumptively, on behalf of the thousands of NAATP members who sit in compassion and pain for our nation and its people today. The tragic slaying of George Floyd has underscored, once aga...

10/10/2019

The Juvenile Law community lost a pioneer, mentor, colleague, and friend last week with the death of Damon L. Gannett, Esq. Our field of law owes Damon a great debt of gratitude. Damon was a pioneer of our work for children and families. Pioneers build a path for those who follow and make our journey possible. Damon did that, and he did it gracefully, and with humility and integrity.

Damon Gannett practiced law in Billings, Montana from the 1970’s until recently. With an inherent passion for the welfare of children, Damon worked tirelessly and with a self-assembled team of lawyers, judges, probation officers, social workers, physicians, and lay advocates to, yes, pioneer, a collaborative multidisciplinary system of justice designed to produce the best available outcomes for the children it served.

It is important to recall that both the juvenile justice and child welfare court systems, as we now know them, were largely undeveloped and highly ineffective coming out of the 1960s. The US Supreme Court had issued the Gault decision establishing due process rights, including the right to counsel for children in juvenile justice cases, just a few years prior. Likewise, the nation had not yet taken notice of the reality of child abuse and neglect in a meaningful way. Damon understood the challenge and opportunity this moment in our history presented and he went to work and never stopped working.

Damon’s impact is felt in his community, the state of Montana, and the nation. In addition to his service to the state bar, where he served as President, and the American Bar Association (ABA), he served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC). NACC would in the years to come establish Child Welfare Law as a formal ABA legal specialty and define the standard of child legal representation.

Damon launched my career. Because of the opportunity Damon gave me, I became Executive Director of the NACC, a position that would define my career, where I served for 15 years, prior to founding the Juvenile Law Society. Damon hired me out of law school in 1985 and we would later become law partners with Gannett & Ventrell. Damon mentored me in the practice of law. It is true that mentorship included substantive issues of law, but that is not what resonates with me today as I say goodbye to Damon from afar. Damon was a man of decency and integrity, and he practiced law with decency and integrity. It never occurred to him to be otherwise.

Goodbye Damon, thank you.

Marvin Ventrell
Executive Director
The Juvenile Law Society

03/27/2019

NAATP partnered with Mediaplanet this week on a major national Opioid Awareness media campaign distributed through USAToday. The goal is to shed light on opioid use and highlight resources for those affected. Read our Executive Director's article on the addiction crisis as a whole titled, Recognizin...

06/12/2018

JLS in San Francisco today teaching at the Judicial Council for Primary Assignment Judges Training. JLS instructor Jessica Swan, our nationally certified addiction counselor and educator teaches: "Addiction: Understanding the Disease, treatment Models, and Modalities."

02/27/2018

JLS congratulates staff member Jessica Swan on the publication of Vol 69, No. 1, 2018 of "Crime, Law, and Social Change." Ms. Swan is the new Managing Editor of this scholarly international criminology journal. https://link.springer.com/journal/10611/69/1/page/1

01/12/2018

University of Colorado Law School Intercession Trial Skills Class 2018: JLS Director pictured with his exceptional CU Law Students this week.

12/31/2017

Judge Richard "Fitz" FitzGerald died this week. I worked with Fitz for 30 years in the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Courts. I hadn't seen him in recent years as he retired and my work took me elsewhere. I want to remember him today. He was a mentor, colleague, and friend to me. I loved working with him and being with him, mostly just being with him. He loved the "Tao of Pooh" and he told the truth. He was kind but not sentimental; he understood that compassion and accountability came together. He was a proud, strong, and unapologetic progressive voice for children and families and he lived an integrated life dedicated to social justice for everyone. He was not a bore; he was fun and interesting and he didn't pout just because our work was hard and unrecognized. It is important to recognize him. He was a good man.

Marvin Ventrell
JLS Director

Richard FitzGerald, a nationally pioneering juvenile court judge who believed "kids needed to be treated like kids" has died