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Name: In re M.R.
Case #: A137586
Opinion Date: 09/27/2013
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 1 DCA
Division: 3
Citation: 220 Cal.App.4th 49
Summary

Juvenile contempt order was reversed where court failed to follow statutory provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure before ordering secure confinement in a truancy case. Fifteen-year-old M.R. was adjudged a ward of the court under section 601 for habitual truancy. The court imposed a curfew and ordered M.R. to attend school every day, but he did not follow these orders. At a progress report hearing, the juvenile court found that he violated numerous court orders and remanded him to serve a weekend in juvenile hall. On appeal, the court aned the order, which it characterized as one for contempt. The juvenile court must comply with the statutory procedures governing civil contempt proceedings before ordering the secure confinement of a contemptuous habitual truant pursuant to In re Michael G. (1988) 44 Cal.3d 283, which the court in this case did not do. (Code of Civ. Pro. §§ 1209-1222.) The court also held that challenging a judgment of contempt requires writ review and treated M.R.’s appeal as a writ.