Department of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice is wading into an ongoing case regarding legal representation for young people in a south Georgia judicial circuit.

The agency's civil rights division filed a statement of interest Friday in Fulton County Superior Court. It urges a judge to find that the constitutional rights of juveniles in the Cordele Judicial Circuit are being violated if adequate legal protections aren't put in place.

Lawyers with the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta filed a lawsuit in January 2014 against the four-county judicial circuit. Among other complaints, they said juvenile defendants often appeared without a lawyer or were represented by lawyers who met with them very briefly.

Attorney General Eric Holder said in a news release that every child has the right to a competent attorney.

Tags: Department of Justice, legal representation of children case, Civil Rights