Juvenile Justice in San Diego County
Jeanne Brown | Published on 4/29/2023
This month we will be beginning our emphasis on Juvenile Justice. We know that many adults who are incarcerated begin their path via the juvenile justice system. If we can interrupt that patch, create diversions to incarceration and better yet, avoid the criminal justice system altogether, the less likely they will spend any of their adult life in our jails and prisons. It is money and energy well spent. To give us an idea of where California and particularly San Diego County is when it comes to our juvenile justice system locally, we look to the experts. and Judge Ana Espana is one of those experts. She will be sharing her knowledge and experience at our May meeting.
Judge Ana Espana received her J.D. in 1982 and started work at Defenders Inc. where she represented children and parents in child welfare proceedings as well as children in delinquency proceedings. She was recognized as one of the state’s leading child advocates and, in 2011, was awarded the honor of Outstanding Legal Advocate by the National Association of Counsel for Children.
She was appointed to the bench by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2008 and continued her advocacy work by, among other things, establishing a behavior health calendar in the South County division in 2015 where she served as supervising judge. She returned to juvenile court in January 2018 and currently serves as Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court which includes both the delinquency and dependency divisions.
We will also begin planning advocacy and events for the 2023-24 year.