Youth Justice Project

The United Nations condemns the practice of prosecuting children in adult criminal court, but in Oregon, state law still allows it, and local prosecutors use the law to push youth into the criminal system. There, young people face harsh, unscientific punishments that fail to account for fundamental differences between children and adults. Some youth are sentenced to die in prison, without any hope of release.

The Youth Justice Project fights for a future in which caging children is unthinkable. We are a team of client-centered lawyers, advocates, and formerly incarcerated youth. Together, we work to empower young people and keep them out of Oregon’s criminal system; we strive to provide holistic support to those youth who have been prosecuted as adults and incarcerated in Oregon’s prisons. In our view, no child should be prosecuted in adult criminal court.

For kids who end up facing extreme punishment, the Youth Justice Project advocates for relief wherever we can find it, whether it’s at sentencing, on appeal, before the parole board, or in a clemency application to the governor. In our view, no child should be condemned to die in prison. If a youth goes to prison at all, they must have a meaningful chance at freedom, and their chance must arrive while freedom still has meaning.

If you’d like help from the Youth Justice Project, please email Walter Fonseca at wfonseca@ojrc.info. We provide free representation to a limited number of clients. We are also available to co-counsel with outside attorneys or consult on youth-related advocacy, investigation, and litigation.

 Resource

The YJP acts as a holistic resource to criminal defense attorneys in relation to Oregon’s treatment of youth in the adult system. Specifically, this project (1) identifies and assists youth who are charged with crimes in which the district attorney is seeking a waiver hearing and (2) is a resource center for criminal defenders and their teams who represent youth prosecuted in the adult system. Generally, the YJP is available to:

  • Work with public defenders representing youth charged with Measure 11 or aggravated murder offenses and provide them with support/resources on small and large issues;

  • Directly connect with and support youth-clients (and their families, when appropriate) who are charged with major felonies, assisting with ensuring the youth-client is actively engaged with their defense;

  • Assist and engage public defenders with various arguments protecting/challenging Oregon’s waiver process and sentencing scheme; 

  • Track and contribute to cases where legal issues impacting the future of widespread relief for youth offenders are at stake, ensuring that legal issues are being litigated consistently and issues are properly preserved;  

  • Provide contacts to legal, social science, medical, and other experts; and

  • Actively offer forums to speak about developing legal arguments against the prosecution of youth as adults. 

  • The YJP strives to stay connected with the youth through the appellate process, collateral attacks, and post-incarceration, continuing to remain available as a resource to the youth and their appointed counsel.

  • The YJP is currently working with system stakeholders to develop  holistic support structures for youth while incarcerated and who will eventually enter an adult institution; these efforts will work in tandem to ensure that the youth are supported throughout their incarceration.

SB 1008 Retroactivity

SB 1008 is a historic step forward for Oregon youth, but it is incomplete in that it is prospective only, applying only to convictions on or after January 1, 2020. The YJP will continue to work to ensure that the mandates and values of SB 1008 are applied to all individuals who have been impacted by policies we now recognize as unsuitable for youth.

  • The YJP tracks all individuals in Oregon who would have benefited from SB 1008 had it been retroactive. This information provides a basis for developing strategy moving forward. 

Expanding the Values of SB 1008 to Emerging Adults

The YJP recognizes that the underlying science and best practices that motivated the enactment of SB 1008 extend and apply to individuals ages 18-25 (emerging adults). The YJP is available to assist with strategic approaches to help extend the mandates of SB 1008 to this population. Specifically, the YJP is available to assist with legal research and litigation support in efforts to advance case law towards this goal.

Criminal and Civil

The YJP engages in both criminal and civil strategic/impact litigation to forward the goals and mandates of the program and the OJRC. Our staff comprises of experienced legal professionals that forward a multi/inter disciplinary advocacy.

Staff

Thaddeus Betz, Co-Director

Thaddeus Betz began practicing law in 2006 at the Metropolitan Public Defender in Portland.  There, he represented indigent criminal defendants on charges ranging from simple misdemeanors to aggravated murder.  Throughout that time, he also represented many children prosecuted as adults under Measure 11.  In 2013, Thaddeus relocated to Bend, where he opened a private criminal defense practice.  In addition to standing with the accused in state and federal courts, he continued a professional focus on youthful offenders, and took up sentencing relief for a number of individuals serving life sentences for crimes committed as children. When not in court, you may run into Thad on the ski slopes or the trails with his family.

Walter Fonseca, Co-Director

Walter Fonseca has practiced law in Oregon since 2014. He first worked for the Oregon Law Center office in Ontario, where he learned the ropes of poverty law and civil litigation, including working with farmworkers, domestic abuse survivors, and tenants. He has spent his career focused on these areas of law inspired by the belief that there are many problems in our state that urgently need to be addressed. Walter then joined the Legal Aid Services of Oregon office in Roseburg, where he focused on landlord-tenant law. He most recently worked at OLC’s Grants Pass office, where he practiced landlord-tenant law and houseless rights.

JD, Lewis & Clark Law School

Conrad Engweiler, Associate Director

Conrad is a formerly incarcerated youth offender who served 25 years in Oregon state correctional facilities and has been out of custody since 2014. Conrad spent 17 years in the prison law library assisting indigent offenders with all legal issues that presented themselves, including §1983 civil rights claims, family law, PCR, habeas, administrative appeals, parole board preparation and appeals.

Notably, Conrad overturned the Juvenile Aggravated Murder (JAM) rules. He also succeeded in enforcing the application of 20% earned-time credit (ETC) to youth offenders sentenced to life imprisonment. Since his release, Conrad has worked as a paralegal for criminal defense and civil rights attorneys around the state of Oregon. He participated in the legislative work group that drafted Oregon Senate Bill 1008.