In re A.S.M.

The Youth Court declared A.S.M. a delinquent youth and serious juvenile offender. The Youth Court later issued an order under Mont. Code Ann. 41-5-208 ("section 208 order") transferring jurisdiction over A.S.M. to the district court and transferring supervisory responsibility of A.S.M. to the Department of Corrections (DOC). Pursuant to the order, A.S.M. was transferred to to Montana State Prison (MSP) on his eighteenth birthday and was not eligible for parole until he completed MSP’s sexual offender program. A.S.M. filed a motion to modify the order, requesting that the DOC send him to Whitney Academy in Massachusetts. The district court partially modified the section 208 order to remove the parole eligibility requirement but refused further to modify the order, thus keeping A.S.M. in the adult corrections system. A.S.M. appealed, requesting that the district court modify its order to facilitate his placement at the Academy by suspending his sentence and terminating supervision by the DOC. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not err by refusing to further modify the section 208 order.View "In re A.S.M." on Justia Law