I am currently incarcerated. Can I go to a court hearing for a case involving my child?
Yes – for any court hearing involving your child, you can ask the judge to be transported and it is up to the judge whether or not to order your transportation for the hearing; and for certain types of cases, you have the automatic right to be transported. As an incarcerated parent, you have the RIGHT TO REQUEST transport to:
- A court hearing in a dependency court case; and
- Hearings in other courts (such as family court, probate court, and juvenile delinquency court) that could affect your parental rights (including cases about custody and visitation, divorce, paternity/parentage cases, guardianship, child support, etc.).[2378]
In these cases, the judge decides whether or not to grant your request.[2379]
As an incarcerated parent, you have THE AUTOMATIC RIGHT to be present at the following hearings:
- Jurisdictional and dispositional hearings in dependency court:
- Jurisdictional and Dispositional hearings are formal meetings in front of a judge once a case has begun in juvenile dependency court. At the jurisdiction hearing the judge will decide whether the allegations in the petition are true. If the judge decides the allegations are true, the court will take authority over your child. This is called jurisdiction in the law; that is why the hearing is called the jurisdiction hearing.
- Disposition is the part of the case where the judge will decide what you should do to make things better for your family and your child. This is called the reunification plan.
- Hearings that seek to terminate their parental rights:
- Hearings that seek to terminate parental rights are formal meetings in front of a judge about ending the right a parent has to see and care for their child. If a parent's rights are terminated, that parent can no longer make legal, medical or general life decisions for the child. In the eyes of the law, the child is no longer that parent's child. Examples of the types of cases that could end a parent's right include: adoption, petition terminating the parental rights of alleged father, or a petition for emancipation.
What does it mean to be present at a hearing?
The right to be present means the right to be physically present in the courtroom while the hearing takes place. Even if you waive your physical presence, you may be able to participate in the hearing in other ways. Depending on the technology at your facility, you may be able to participate in the hearing via telephone or videoconference.
Under state law, the judge should automatically make an order for you to be transported to these types of hearings. The court MUST send a copy of the “transport order” to the warden or sheriff of your facility at least 15 days before the date you need transportation. If you do not receive this order, or if you want to be transported to court for other dependency court hearings, you can write to the court to request such an order, or ask the attorney representing you to request one.[2380] The sheriff’s department in the county in which hearing takes place is responsible for arranging your transportation, but you may have to be proactive and follow up with your institution to make sure you are transported on time.[2381]
- 2378
Cal. Penal Code § 2625(e). ↑
- 2379
Cal. Penal Code § 2625(d). See also Manual on Transportation to Court for Hearings Affecting Prisoners’ Parental Rights, available at http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Transportation-to-Court-2013.pdf. ↑
- 2380
Cal. Penal Code § 2625(d). See also Manual on Transportation to Court for Hearings Affecting Prisoners’ Parental Rights, available at http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Transportation-to-Court-2013.pdf. ↑
- 2381
Manual on Transportation to Court for Hearings Affecting Prisoners’ Parental Rights, available at http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Transportation-to-Court-2013.pdf. ↑