Law & Fiction — revisiting two topics

LAB in the back of a police car at Writers’ Police Academy (2016), smiling because I knew I could get out any time

From time to time, I write about legal issues writers may want to use in their fiction, or mistakes to avoid. I spotted two recent articles on topics I wrote about in Books, Crooks & Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure (Quill Driver, 2011). Whether you’ve read the books or not, you may want to know a little more about when teenagers can be charged as adults, as described in this NPR piece about the teenage shooter in Oxford, Michigan, which provides a good overview. The trend toward “Raise the Age” legislation is new since BCC; many states have now set a presumptive age, typically 17 or 18, at which a juvenile can be charged as an adult; below that, such a charge is still possible but certain criteria must be met.

I also wrote about drug courts, an approach aimed at keeping nonviolent offenders charged with drug offenses out of jail and on the road to recovery and productivity. This piece from the Washington Post focuses more broadly on addiction in northern New Mexico, but the highlights on the drug court and its judge are worth a look. (It’s part of a Post project on the importance of regional stories and what is or could be lost when local papers shut down, another important topic.)

As always, check law and practice in your story state. We may be writing fiction, but getting the facts right matters.

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