Miss. R. Youth Ct. Prac. 37
Appeals from final orders or decrees of the court shall be pursuant to the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedures.
Comments & Procedures
Rule 37.
Only the initials of the child shall appear on the record on appeal. See In re R.R.B., 394 So. 2d 907, 908 (Miss. 1981) ("[Section 43-21-651] is mandatory that nowhere on the records of this Court or the appellate records or briefs or other proceedings should the minor's name appear, only his or her initials."). In reviewing an adjudication of delinquency, the appellate court will not reverse unless, considering all of the evidence before the youth court in the light most favorable to the State, reasonable persons could not have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the child committed the delinquent act. See In re L.M., 600 So. 2d 967, 969 (Miss. 1992); In re S.B., 566 So. 2d 1276, 1278 (Miss. 1990). In reviewing an adjudication of abuse or neglect, the appellate court will not reverse unless, considering all of the evidence before the youth court in the light most favorable to the State, reasonable persons could not have found by a preponderance of the evidence that the child was abused or neglected. See In re M.R.L., 488 So. 2d 788, 791 (Miss. 1986). The right to appeal in forma pauperis attaches if a fundamental right is at issue. See M.L.B. v. S.L.J., 519 U.S. 102, 107 (1996) ("[J]ust as a State may not block an indigent petty offender's access to an appeal afforded others, [a State] may not deny [a parent], because of her poverty, appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence on which the trial court found her unfit to remain a parent."); cf. In re J.R.T., 749 So. 2d 105, 110 (Miss. 1999) ("The state's judicial process had not been invoked to sever or alter the parents' fundamental rights. If there had been a termination of the parental relationship, then substantive and procedural due process would have required that the parents be afforded the right of appellate review.").
Miss. R. Youth Ct. Prac. 37