Annual Survey of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children

The past year has been another significant year for children and the legal system with the completion of the Virginia Commission on Youth's Serious Juvenile Offender study and the enactment of comprehensive legislation intended to implement the recommendations of that study as the General Assembly continues to focus on juvenile delinquency and school behaviors. The Governor and General Assembly failed to agree on a funding scheme for the Family Court, created in 1993, which consequently postponed the date for the Family Court's implementation from January 1, 1995 until July 1, 1996. Also, the past year experienced a series of different results in a nationally prominent and highly publicized case involving the emotionally charged issue of the custody rights of gay or lesbian parents. The year also saw the continuing affirmation by the United States Supreme Court of the principle of separation of church and state in the setting of public education, which has been recurring issue.