On The Record With ... Judge Daniel B. Shanes

Daniel B. Shanes sits as a judge in the Lake County Circuit Court Felony Trial Division in Waukegan and hears the most serious of cases, such as those for rape and murder.

But on Thursday, Oct. 7, Shanes will leave the bench to talk to parents at Highland Middle School in Libertyville about issues he thinks are incredibly important – the personal and legal consequences of underage drinking and alcohol abuse.

“Doctors spend a lot of time on preventative medicine,” Shanes said. “By the time it gets to court, it’s too late. Whatever’s happened, happened, and I’m left picking up pieces, and there are families where you can never put Humpty Dumpty back together again. This is maybe my attempt at preventative law.”

The program, “Partying? My Kid? My House?” is open to all parents, including those outside of District 70. It will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. at the school, 310 W. Rockland Road, in Libertyville. Those planning to attend can call Mara Battaglia at Highland Middle School at 847-362-9020, ext. 4124 to save a seat, though walk-ins are welcome.

Shanes went on the record with Lake County Journal reporter Stephanie N. Lehman to talk about why he's taking the time to talk to parents about their teens.

Lehman: How did you get into law ?
Shanes:  My dad was a lawyer, my grandfather was a lawyer, my cousins were lawyers ... I come from a family of lawyers, but in spite of that, I became a lawyer. It was either going to be lawyer or history teacher ... and both of them appealed to me because I always knew I wanted to help people. A lot of what I have done in any phase of working has involved kids ... I worked for almost 12 years as an assistant state's attorney and a large focus of my case load ... involved kids, either child homicide, child abuse, child sexual abuse, that kind of stuff. On the bench, I'm still who I am, and so those same factors apply for what animates me and what I do.

Lehman: Why are you helping lead this discussion at Highland Middle School?
Shanes: Getting out of the courtroom is simply an opportunity for me to report back to the people I work for. Being in a courtroom is an opportunity to provide justice for the people who are there, either because they have allegedly done something or they have had somebody allegedly do something to them ... But who I work for is everybody back home – I work for the community at large ... .
More than that, it's important that our community know and understand our justice system, and being in the community provides the opportunity for them to know our justice system and for me to get out and explain our justice system.

Lehman: What are you going to be talking about specifically at Highland?
Shanes: Last year ... Vernon Hills [High School] and Libertyville High School had a program for parents on a parent night, and they'd invited me to come ... talk about teens and decision-making, social hosting laws, consequences on teens for the decisions they're making and consequences on the parents for the decisions their teens are making. It was a huge success. Parents keyed into it; parents were very interested; parents were very involved, and the kids were very involved, too ... .

Although Highland's a middle school, there are some of the same issues that are involved there ... so, they approached me and wanted a similar program.

Lehman: You see court cases all the time. How big of problem is underage drinking and drug use in Lake County? How many of those issues stem from teen parties?
Shanes: This is the [other] answer for why am I doing this. As a parent in the community, it's important. That's fine. But, why as a judge am I doing this? ... I'm in the felony division. The cases I hear now are murders and rapes and gang cases and shootings and vehicular homicides, which Illinois calls reckless homicides. They're horrible; they're tragic. It's peoples lives at the worst that they can be. But teens going out and partying – homecoming, prom, graduation – and getting hurt or killed because of that, and the pain that they go through and their families have gone through, is entirely avoidable. Each and every one is completely needless and senseless. Parents have an understanding that gangs lead to violence, and that's bad. Parents have an understanding that a murder over a drug deal is violent and bad. Everyone understands that. But what doesn't't get enough attention, what isn't high enough on people's awareness list or maybe on their consciousness, is that something as "innocuous" as a bunch of 16-, 17-, 18-, – 15-, 14-year-olds – getting together in someone's basement and drinking because it's homecoming weekend and so the kids are having "a few beers," leads to someone dying ... and the fact is it happens all too often. Thousands and thousands of kids are dying every year because of the choices they're making. The kids need that information, and the parents need that information about what can flow from that and also what to do about it.

Lehman: What else do you tell kids and parents?
Shanes: What I talk about is fashioned a bit by who the audience is. If I'm talking to kids ... There was a case ... [an] 18-year-old guy was charged with a reckless homicide. He was drunk, he was driving, and he allegedly killed somebody. His bond was set at whatever it was, and his parents posted a sizeable amount of money for him to be out of jail during the pendency of the trial.

So, I talk to them about social networking sites ... Many of them going to college are looking for scholarships or academic teams or athletic teams. Every college admission office will Google and look through Facebook to see what these kids have posted. So, if they have all these great pictures that they think are so funny of them doing crazy stuff at parties, bye-bye scholarship. So, I talk to the kids about this, I talk to the parents about this. Every parent I tell is like, "Oh my God, you're kidding." And I'm like, "No, I'm not." And this is what they have to think about. And once something's on the Internet, it never goes away.

Lehman: What's the best advice you can give parents and teens about hosting parties and going to social functions?
Shanes: For parents, it's communicate with your kids ... . When their teens are out, know where they are, who they're with ... . They need to know who their friends are. If they start seeing a big change, for example, in who their friends are, or if they start seeing their kids acting very differently, they should be concerned, because maybe a problem is developing. This is a situation where that old cliche comes up – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Lehman: And teens?
Shanes: Life's about choices – choices and consequences. I must tell them that 100 times a day. And they need to make the best choices they can with the most information they can ... .

Lehman: Would you say teens having parties is a no-no in and of itself?
Shanes: No ... It ought to be fun growing up. Teens should have parties. They should have a good time. They should get together, they should enjoy their company, they should have a great time – they should just do it in a safe way.

Lehman: Do you see teens coming in when you're seated as judge?
Shanes: For any number of reasons .. drinking is bad for teens. Drugs are bad ... I see a tremendous number of date rape cases and sexual assault cases that have led from parties and teens drinking because their thought process is impaired. So, it's not just reckless homicides. There's a lot of sex cases that I see stemming from this ... . In Illinois, to be an adult in felony court, you only have to be 17.

Shanes lowdown

Who he is: A judge in the Lake County Circuit Court Felony Trial Division
Family: Wife, Diane; and four children
Favorite movie: "The Magnificent Seven"
Favorite dessert: Cherry pie from Door County, Wis.
Fun fact: I have a Supreme Court bobblehead collection.