Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/28/2025
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
This presentation aims to provide a fresh perspective on detention law and Dennis H. hearings by setting aside received wisdom and routine practices and taking a close look at some underutilized tools and approaches that can be used to reduce the incarceration of youth. Stephen and Reuben will discuss some overlooked intricacies of detention law and novel tactics and strategies for defending youth against detention. They will cover the nature and scope of Dennis H. hearings, ways to maximize the utility of these hearings, and how these hearings can improve outcomes beyond the issue of detention. They will share their experiences of increasing the use of Dennis H. hearings in Sacramento County, the practical challenges such efforts can pose for juvenile defender offices, and ways of addressing these challenges.
**Eligible for 1.5 Hours of General MCLE**
**MCLE INFORMATION: CYDC certifies that this activity conforms to the standards of approved education activities prescribed by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California governing Minimum Continuing Legal Education.**
Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bkpwMnuaSoWmz7BAXk2uJg
Speakers
Stephen has worked as an assistant public defender in Sacramento for more than 9 years and has spent over half of that time as a juvenile defender. Currently, Stephen serves as a research attorney dedicated to the juvenile unit while also representing clients committed to and discharged from Sacramento’s secure youth treatment facility and clients in competency proceedings. Stephen co-chairs PJDC’s Legislative Committee and serves on PJDC’s Advisory Board. Stephen earned his B.A. from Stanford University and his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis.
Reuben Moreno
Reuben Moreno is the Supervising Attorney for the Juvenile Division of the Sacramento County Public Defender’s Office. He has dedicated nearly the entirety of his 20-year career in that office to the defense of children. He has tried hundreds of juvenile delinquency cases at all levels of complexity and has served as a Juvenile Trial Attorney, Fitness/Transfer Attorney, Placement Attorney, Non-Minor Dependent Attorney, Juvenile Drug Court Attorney, Division of Juvenile Justice Resource Attorney, Juvenile Writs and Appeals, and the Lead Attorney of the Juvenile Division.
Reuben has litigated many cases in the CA 3rd District Court of Appeals, resulting in several published cases concerning juvenile delinquency. He has spoken at local, statewide and national forums to both defense practitioners and judges on juvenile delinquency related topics including a presentation on Holistic Juvenile Defense Practices to The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges earlier this year. He has served on several workgroups with the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center in the past and is a current Board member on the National Advisory Board for the Western Region of the Gault Center.
Reuben was responsible for creating the SB395/SB203 Juvenile Miranda Advisement Program in Sacramento County, ensuring that attorneys are available 24/7, 365 days a year to go into the field and provide Miranda advisements to children prior to a custodial interrogation. He also helped to create the Juvenile Trauma Response Court (JTRC). JTRC centers on the trauma that children suffer, which in turn results in the behaviors that then bring them before the juvenile court. Starting off as a grant funded pilot program, Sacramento County now fully funds JTRC due to its success.
Two years ago, Reuben was given his dream job of supervising the Juvenile Division of the Public Defender’s Office. Since then, his focus has been on getting resources for the defense of children by expanding the Juvenile Division to include more attorneys, social workers and support staff. The Juvenile Division now has its first ever dedicated Juvenile Research Attorney, and attorneys dedicated specifically to Transfer hearings and Secure Track litigation and advocacy. He also worked with others in his office to secure grant funding in order to start the Juvenile Pre-Trial Program (JPTP) which funds a pre-adjudication services team based within the Office of the Public Defender. This team works together to make early intervention connection to services within individualized areas of need for clients at the detention hearing stage. The goal of JPTP is to get more children out of custody earlier, have children placed on lower levels of probation and spend less time overall on probation.