A dependency court system is highly needed and separated from the overload of criminal courthouses. Over the years, the number of issues of child abuse, neglect, abandonment, and exploitation has increased considerably. As a result, a full-time judge was assigned to resolve this growth in cases. However, children who are required to attend court hearings have no option but to attend criminal courts in downtown Los Angeles. For this, juvenile courts were constructed to fully focus on hearing child abuse cases. Moreover, the environment of criminal courts is not built for kid-friendly. Children already experiencing abuse, neglect, abandonment, and or exploitation, should not be witnessing the environment of criminal courts.
This week I was fortunate to take a tour around the Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Court in the County of Los Angeles, specifically in Monterey Park of Assembly District 49. Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Court was opened in July 1992 in honor of Edmund D. Edelman, named after Los Angeles County’s former Board of Supervisors. Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Court was considered as one of the very first child’s courts.
Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Court was designed intentionally to be child-focused. Some areas of the court include a playground, arcade, and other friendly activities for children to play while they’re waiting for their court hearing. This tour surprises me to see how much effort was put into the court’s development to ensure children are feeling safe and secure. However, it is also very disheartening to know that children entering such a beautiful space are children who have experienced some form of abuse.
This tour has made a significant impact towards my perspective of the court system. Multiple times, I questioned why the justice system takes such a slow time to hear a case. After hearing from Judge Akemi Arakaki, it made sense to me how much of a workload court judges have to go through. Understanding that this court hears about 20,000 juvenile dependency cases every year made me think of what it would be like for other non-related cases every year. Overall, I was delighted to have the opportunity to tour what a court setting is like.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by Pa Houa Lee, Leadership Academy 2023 Intern.
The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a nine-week, paid, internship program that prepares college undergraduates to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community on their campuses and beyond.