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An Act To Provide for Direct Appeals under the Maine Juvenile Code to the Supreme Judicial Court
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §1, sub-§2, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 731, Pt. ZZZ, §9 and affected by §42, is repealed.
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §3401, sub-§1, as repealed and replaced by PL 1979, c. 512, §8, is amended to read:
 
1. Structure.   Except as otherwise provided, appeals from the juvenile court shall beare to the SuperiorSupreme Judicial Court and appeals from the Superior Court shall be to the Law Court.
Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §3402, as amended by PL 2013, c. 234, §11, is further amended to read:
§ 3402.Appeals to Supreme Judicial Court
 
1. Matters for appeal.   Appeals of the following matters may be taken from the juvenile court to the SuperiorSupreme Judicial Court by a party specified in subsection 2:
 
A. An adjudication, provided that noas long as the appeal shall beis taken until after an order of disposition;
 
B. An order of disposition, or of any subsequent order modifying disposition, for an abuse of discretion; and
 
D. A detention order entered pursuant to section 3203-A, subsection 5 or any refusal to alter a detention order upon petition of the juvenile pursuant to section 3203-A, subsection 11, for abuse of discretion, provided that the appeal must be handled expeditiously.
 
2. Who may appeal.   An appeal may be taken by the following parties:
 
A. The juvenile; or
 
B. The juvenile's parents, guardian or legal custodian on behalf of the juvenile, if the juvenile is not emancipated and the juvenile does not wish to appeal.
 
2-A.  Appeal from a bind-over order of the juvenile court.     A bind-over order of the juvenile court by a party specified in subsection 2 may be reviewed only by the Supreme Judicial Court pursuant to an appeal of a judgment of conviction following bind-over.
 
3. Appeals by the State.  The State may appeal from a decision or order of the juvenile court to the Supreme Judicial Court to the same extent and in the same manner as in criminal cases under section 2115-A. The State may appeal from the juvenile court to the SuperiorSupreme Judicial Court for the failure of the juvenile court to order a bind-over.
 
4. Stays and releases.   On an appeal pursuant to subsection 1, paragraphs A and B, the SuperiorSupreme Judicial Court shall consider a stay of execution and release pending the appeal.
 
5. Time for appeals.   An appeal from the juvenile court to the SuperiorSupreme Judicial Court must be taken within 7 days after the entry of an order of disposition or other appealed order or such further time as the Supreme Judicial Court may provide pursuant to a rule of court.
Sec. 4. 15 MRSA §3403, as repealed and replaced by PL 1979, c. 512, §10, is amended to read:
§ 3403.Rules for appeals
Procedure for appeals from the juvenile court to the SuperiorSupreme Judicial Court, including provision for a record, subject to section 3405, shall beis as provided by rule promulgatedadopted by the Supreme Judicial Court.
Sec. 5. 15 MRSA §3405, as amended by PL 1997, c. 645, §14, is further amended to read:
§ 3405.Scope of review on appeal; record
 
1. Scope of review.   Review on all appeals from juvenile court to Superiorthe Supreme Judicial Court shall beis for errors of law or abuses of discretion. The SuperiorSupreme Judicial Court may affirm, reverse or modify any order of the Juvenile Courtjuvenile court or remand for further proceedings. The SuperiorSupreme Judicial Court shallmay enter a new order of disposition if it finds that the Juvenile Court'sjuvenile court's disposition was an abuse of discretion.
 
2. Record on appeals.   In appeals taken pursuant to section 3402, subsection 1, paragraphs A and B, review must be on the basis of the record of the proceedings in Juvenile Courtjuvenile court. In the interest of justice, the SuperiorSupreme Judicial Court may order that the record must consist of:
 
A. The untranscribed sound recording of the proceedings; or
 
B. An agreed or settled statement of facts with the consent of the parties.
 
3. Record on appeals of detention orders.   In appeals taken pursuant to section 3402, subsection 1, paragraph D, the court shall order a review by the most expeditious of the following methods that is consistent with the interests of justice:
 
A. The untranscribed sound recording of the detention hearing;
 
B. Evidence presented to the Superior Courttrial court, providedas long as the scope of review shall beis as specified in subsection 1;
 
C. A transcribed record; or
 
D. A record consisting of a statement of facts as described in subsection 2, paragraph B.
Sec. 6. 15 MRSA §3407, as amended by PL 1997, c. 645, §§15 and 16, is repealed.
 
SUMMARY
The purpose of this bill is to eliminate duplicative appeals from the juvenile court. Under current law, all appeals from adjudications in juvenile court go first to the Superior Court, with a second appeal available at the Supreme Judicial Court. This bill provides instead that appeals are brought directly to the Supreme Judicial Court.