Youth advocates call for investigation into Nickles’ relationship with DYRS

By: Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer
07/20/10 12:35 PM EDT

Youth advocates are calling for an investigation into D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles’ relationship with the city’s troubled juvenile justice rehabilitation agency after it became clear on Monday that Nickles played a key role in a Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services leadership shakeup.

Before he became Attorney General, Nickles was the lead attorney representing a group of juveniles in a class-action lawsuit filed against the city that ended in a court ordered cleanup of DYRS, which is ongoing.

“As a lawyer for these youth, Peter Nickles may have a conflict of interest in conducting an investigation, then using it to urge the dismissal of Marc Schindler, whose leadership benefited youth in the system and community safety,” said Daniel Okonkwo, executive director of D.C. Lawyers for Youth. “We are asking the Inspector General, the Bar Association and the D.C. Council’s investigator to look into Nickles’ role in both this investigation and the replacement of interim DYRS director Marc Schindler.”

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/blogs/capital-land/youth-advocates-call-for-investigation-into-nickles-relationship-with-dyrs-98839159.html