Protecting Parental Rights: The Fight for Speedy Trial Rights in California

Both the United States Constitution and the California Constitution have strict timelines  (days not years) to prevent innocent people from having their lives derailed by false accusations. But these timelines only exist in criminal courts. 

Family court and juvenile dependency court operate nothing like this.

Custody trials in family court can stretch on for years, sometimes consuming the entire remainder of a child’s childhood. Juvenile dependency cases often take a year or more to resolve, beginning the moment the State removes a child from their home. 

In California, children spend an average of 17 months in State custody before their parents’ cases are resolved which is a big reason why California continues to lead the nation in the number of children entering foster care each year. Even “permanent” placement is not always permanent. Increasing numbers of adoptive parents are returning children to the system due to divorce, stress, financial strain, or other pressures. Some estimates suggest that as many as 1 in 20 children in supposedly permanent placements are later rejected.

All of this points to one urgent conclusion: parents deserve access to a jury trial—and they deserve it without delay. The RaiseYourRights initiative calls for jury trials to be made available to parents (in days not years) after the State seizes emergency authority over a child, but before the State takes temporary legal rights away from the parent. Families should not lose their children under a system that moves slowly, inconsistently, and without the constitutional safeguards that protect every other fundamental right.