Frances Sleep: Colleague, 1959 and 1960
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| North Idaho District Council of Probate Judges Sandpoint, Idaho, Spokane Chronicle, January 15, 1959 |
Updated September 22, 2025
Colleague
In mid-January, Judge Sleep, who had been sworn in as Bonner County Probate Judge three days earlier, hosted her colleagues in juvenile justice at a meeting of the
North Idaho District Council of Probate Judges and Juvenile Workers in Sandpoint. According to an article in the January 15 edition of Wallace's North Idaho Press, the Council was formed in 1958 "to fill a need for better understanding and more uniform enforcement of the Youth Rehabilitation Act;" it also served as a means of assisting juvenile workers in acquiring information about new ways to treat juvenile offenders and prevent delinquency. (North Idaho Press, January 15, 1959, p.1)
In its coverage of the meeting, the Sandpoint News-Bulletin reports that more than 70 judges and other juvenile workers from the 10 northern counties attended the conference. Among the several guest speakers were Robert Brumlay, juvenile officer from Spokane County, Washington. Brumlay told the attendees that "80 per cent of the youths in court" were "from under privileged homes where the mothers are working and where there is too much drinking." Youth from the "other 20 per cent," he added, were from "good homes or where there" was "overprotectiveness."(Sandpoint News-Bulletin, January 22, 1959, p. 5)
In addition to the speakers, a panel discussion of Bonner County's 1958 youth camp-out program was also held. The panelists include such "experts" as Lester Gissel, Idaho Fish and Game; William A. Scribner, Idaho Department of Lands; and Les Tovey, Idaho Department of Parks; as well as two Bonner County boys, Arden Rainey and Al Boling, who had participated in the program. (North Idaho Press, January 15, 1959, p.1)
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| Bonner County Law and Order, Spokane Chronicle, January 19, 1959 |
At the end of January, Sleep conferred with Stephen
Bistline, Bonner County’s new Prosecuting Attorney, and the county's law enforcement officers. As shown in the photo above, seated are George Elliot, Sandpoint Chief of Police; Bistline; and Sleep. Standing are Don Maynard, Bonner County Sheriff; Phillip Bradetich, Sandpoint Police Department; Frank Jubon, Priest River Police Department; Ralph Smith, Bonner County Justice of the Peace; and Don Van Fleet, Priest River Chief of Police. Bistline would later serve nearly two decades on the Idaho Supreme Court.
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Judge Sleep visits Pennsylvania’s Boys Town, Spokesman-Review, March 2, 1959 |
The First
In early March, Judge Sleep attended the Pennsylvania
Juvenile Court Institute in Pittsburgh. According to a notice in the March 4
edition of the Spokane Chronicle, she was the first northern Idaho
probate judge to have been invited to the institute, which was sponsored by the
Masons of Pennsylvania. “This all-expense trip,” Judge Sleep wrote in a summary of the
work of her court during 1959, “was a school in court procedures and treatment of
delinquent, neglected, and abandoned children.” “Only 20 judges,” she added,
were invited to the class. In addition to the Institute, Judge Sleep also
visited Pennsylvania’s Boys Town in Grove City. (Sandpoint News-Bulletin,
December 31, 1959, p. 2)
Youth Conservation Corps Supporter
On August 18, 1959, the U.S. Senate passed S. 812, a bill
to establish a federal Youth Conservation Corps. Reminiscent of the Great
Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, the legislation would have “put
youths to work, on a voluntary basis, improving the natural resources of the
country.” In May, Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, D-Minn, who had introduced the
bill in January, chaired hearings before the Subcommittee on the Youth
Conservation Corps of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. (New York
Times, September 7,1959, p. 32)
Judge Sleep was among the many public officials,
politicians, and law enforcement officers who submitted letters to the
subcommittee in support of the proposed legislation. “Aside from the work the
boys would accomplish,” she wrote, “there is also the unestimable [sic] good
that can accrue to the youth himself through being made more aware of his
responsibilities as a citizen and his heritage in the Nation. Physically the
outdoor exercise and living will also be of benefit.” Judge Sleep also
referenced Bonner County’s youth camp-out program, which she described as being
of “similar structure” and enclosed a copy of the Idaho Youth Natural Resources
Association’s report on its 1958 program. Unlike the Senate, the House of
Representatives failed to act on Humphrey’s proposal, and 15 years would pass
before a federal Youth
Conservation Corps was permanently established. (Youth Conservation
Corps: hearings before the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Public
Welfare, Subcommittee on the Youth Conservation Corps, Eighty-Sixth Congress,
first session, on May 11, 12, 19, 22, 25, 1959
Secretary-Treasurer, Chair
With the first half of 1959 drawing to a close, Judge
Sleep continued to travel, first to McCall for the annual convention of the
Idaho Probate Judges Association and then to Boise. In McCall, Sleep was
not only elected secretary-treasurer of the association but was also named
chair of a committee formed to promote “youth forest camps as a preventive
measure against juvenile delinquency,” according to an article in the June 11 edition of the Idaho Statesman. Joining her on the committee were Peter Du Fresne, Shoshone County; Harvey Myrick, Idaho County; W.E. Smith, Ada County; Paul Crane, Butte County, and J.B. Moser, Twin Falls County. After the convention, the article explains, the committee traveled to Boise where they discussed the youth camp concept with Governor Robert E. Smiley. (Idaho Statesman, June 11, 1959, p. 16)
Organizer
In December, Judge Sleep convened a meeting in
Sandpoint of the Citizens’ Council to the Probate Court. Little is known about
the Council, but an article in the December 12 edition of the Spokesman-Review
reports that its “prime objective” was “to secure a professional youth
counselor” for Bonner County. “The counselor,” the article adds, would “assist
the youth of the county in meeting and solving their problems,” while also
serving as a resource for “parents, churches, schools, the community, law
enforcement agencies and the courts.” In anticipation of budgetary approval of
the position by the Board of Bonner County Commissioners, Judge Sleep
designated a screening committee whose members Jack Jones, Superintendent of
Schools; Charles Stidwell, principal of Sandpoint Junior High School; and
herself. (Spokesman-Review, December 12, 1959, p. 3)
Probate Court Activities Reporter
Sometime before the year ended, Judge Sleep submitted “a
report of the probate court activities for the year 1959” to the Board of
County Commissioners. The News-Bulletin printed the report in its
December 31 edition. “It is of note,” Judge Sleep begins, “that emphasis is
steadily developing on the court as a family court…more definitely as a
juvenile court, but not alone as a court of correction and rehabilitation of the
juvenile offender, but also as a court that is filling a need for counseling of
youth. Of the 15 duties established by law as within the jurisdiction of the
probate court, the greatest use of Bonner county court time in 1959 has been
devoted to children.” (Sandpoint News-Bulletin, December 31, 1959, p. 2)
In concluding her “summation” of what she and the court
had achieved, Judge Sleep struck a philosophical note. “And finally, gentlemen,
as the New Year draws closer it is only natural to take stock…to weight [sic]
its successes and failures…to regard those successes with a humble spirit
knowing they were made possible because of the generous cooperation of
others…and to promise ourselves to profit for a better try at tomorrow from the
lessons learned in today’s failures.” (Sandpoint News-Bulletin, December
31, 1959, p. 2)
President, Idaho Press Women
At their annual meeting held in Boise in the early part of 1960, the members of the Idaho Press Women
elected Judge Sleep president of their association. Her northern Idaho colleague, Louise Shadduck, by the way, was reelected to the position of first vice president. At the end of March, Sleep traveled to Moscow to represent the Idaho Press Women at the
annual University of Idaho High School Journalism conference. She must have
been delighted when the “Cedar Post,” the newspaper of Sandpoint Senior High
School, won an “all-state honor rating.” (Spokane Chronicle, March 19,
1960, p. 4)
Delegate
Early in the second month of the year of 1960, Governor Smylie named Judge Sleep a member
of the Idaho delegation to the White
House Conference on Children and Youth to be held March 27 through April 1, 1960, in Washington D.C. The White House conferences on children and youth had begun
in 1909, under the direction of President Theodore Roosevelt; President Richard
Nixon convened the last conference in 1971. Held roughly every 10 years during
that interval, the conferences focused on issues then relevant to the welfare
of American children and youth. During the 1909 conference, for example, the
main topic of consideration was the care of dependent children – those who had
been abandoned or orphaned. The theme of the 1960 conference, in contrast,
concerned ways of helping children and youth to “realize their full potential
for a creative life in freedom and dignity.” (The
Story of the White House Conferences on Children and Youth, Children’s
Bureau, 1967, p. 2/scan #6, University of Minnesota view)
An article in the March 24 edition of the Sandpoint News-Bulletin strongly suggests that the governor’s invitation to represent Idaho at the conference was entirely honorific. It did not, in other words, include an “expense paid trip” to Washington D.C., as had the invitation the Masons of Pennsylvania extended to Judge Sleep in 1959. According to the article, a “total of $300” had been donated by “individuals and organizations” to help finance Sleep’s trip to the conference. The donations, the article adds, had made it possible for her to fly to Washington D.C. (Sandpoint News-Bulletin, March 24, 1960, p. 11)
When Sleep arrived at the conference, she
was one of nearly 8,000 delegates. During the first three days of the conference, the participants attended one of five concurrent assemblies,” each of which was
devoted to a specific theme. After the assemblies had convened, “a computer” then assigned the delegates to one of 210 work groups. The theme of Judge Sleep’s
work group was “The Young in Conflict.” (The
Story of the White House Conferences on Children and Youth, Children’s
Bureau, 1967, p. 23/scan #27 University of Minnesota view; Sandpoint
News-Bulletin, April 14, 1960, p. 3)
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Simulated juvenile court hearing, left to right: Mrs. Marvel Ekholm, Lincoln Grade School principal; Sandpoint Police Chief George F. Elliott; Probate Judge Frances Sleep; Rev. Wallace Johnson; Jack Jones (standing) Superintendent of School District 82; Don Newton and Mrs. Lloyd Allen (seated) portraying juveniles; Mrs. Clifford Berry and Richard Thompson, as the boy’s parents; Jay Shaffer and Mrs. Don LeMoreaux as the girl’s grandparents Spokane Chronicle, February 23, 1960 |
Educator
As Governor Smylie was announcing the composition of
Idaho’s delegation to the White House Conference on Children and Youth in early
February, Judge Sleep was developing an innovative method of educating the
public about the procedures and purposes of Bonner County’s juvenile justice
system. She unveiled the fruit of her labor on Thursday, February 18, when she
conducted “a simulated juvenile court hearing.” Approximately 100 citizens
attended the simulation, its purpose being to provide “an understanding of the
juvenile court procedure and its primary concern which is not with juvenile
punishment but with rehabilitation of the child by changing his attitude.” The
Parent-Teacher Association of Lincoln School, one of Sandpoint’s elementary
schools, sponsored the program. (Sandpoint News-Bulletin, February 4,
1960, p. 1)
An article about the simulation published in the February
25 edition of the News-Bulletin hints that Judge Sleep had structured
it as a dramatic narrative, complete with a cast of characters and a script.
According to the article, Ruth Allen and Don Newton portrayed two young
offenders, Nora Mahl and Bill Frank; Belle Berry and Richard Thompson played
Bill Frank’s parents; and Hazel LaMoreaux and J.W. Shaver played Nora Mahl’s
grandparents. Following the simulation, the attendees toured “the juvenile
detention quarters which,” according to Judge Sleep, “are used at times to give
some youngsters a chance to think." (Sandpoint News-Bulletin, February
25, 1960, p. 1)
Y.E.S Committee Member
As busy as Judge Sleep was, she still found time to
resume service on the City of Sandpoint’s Youth Employment Service
(Y.E.S.) committee. The purpose of the committee, which Mayor Floyd Perks had formed in 1957, was
“to assist young people to obtain employment during the summer vacation,”
according to an article in the April 2, 1960, edition of the Spokane
Chronicle. The membership of the committee included school officials,
businessmen, and other interested citizens. Employees of Idaho’s department of
employment security served as advisors and provided administrative support. (Spokane
Chronicle, April 2, 1960, p. 11)
Candidate
"Just a Minute, Please..." is the heading of an advertisement published in the June 2 edition of the Sandpoint News-Bulletin that encouraged citizens to vote for Judge Sleep as Probate Judge in the upcoming primary. After providing several examples of how Bonner County had grown in recent years, Sleep explains that her court was "no exception." The Probate Court, she writes, "has become the children's court," processing "all matters concerning children with the exception of those arising from divorce," including "adoptions, guardianships, dependent, neglected children, all juvenile delinquency actions." The court, she explains, also shared jurisdiction over juvenile traffic violations with the police and justice of the peace courts. (Sandpoint News-Bulletin, June 2, 1960, p. 2)
To support her claim, Judge Sleep provided statistics not only on the increase in the number of juvenile cases heard in her court but also the number of estate probate cases handled. In 1956, the year before she took office, the Probate Court handled 14 juvenile cases. In comparison, Judge Sleep heard 77 cases in 1957, her first year in office. Estate probate cases had risen from 87 new filings in 1958 to 121 in 1959. In addition to juvenile and probate work, the court also issued "guardianships on incompetent persons," conducted "mental illness hearings," and officiated "at civil marriage ceremonies." (Sandpoint News-Bulletin, June 2, 1960, p. 2)
In conclusion, Judge Sleep reminded the voters that she was responsible for establishing the "Youth Camp-outs for boys 11 to 17" and had attended "schools and conferences dealing with work of the Probate Court in order to learn new ways of keeping the office at top efficiency, and to learn how" she could "be of greater service" to her fellow citizens. It is impossible to know if the advertisement played a part in her victory, but Judge Sleep defeated fellow Democrat Kenneth Hackworth by over 700 votes in the mid-month primary. (Sandpoint News-Bulletin, June 2, 1960, p. 2)
Conventioneer
At the end of June, Judge Sleep attended the annual convention of the Idaho Probate Judges Association in Pocatello. As they had at the 1958 convention, the Youth Rehabilitation Act and juvenile driving regulations dominated discussion. The judges also made several recommendations, including extending terms of office from two to four yerars, raising salaries, and encouraging local newspapers to publish the accomplishments of youth in their pages. After electing officers, the judges decided to hold the 1961 conference in Bonner County at Linger Longer Lodge on Priest Lake, with Judge Sleep as host.
North Idaho Citizen’s Committee Member
In late October, Judge Sleep became a member of a
citizen’s group formed “to lay the groundwork for a request to be presented to
the 1961 legislature asking for a special appropriation to the state forestry
department to set up a pilot project for boys between 14-17 modeled after
Bonner county’s youth camp outs.” According to Judge Sleep, as quoted in an article in the
October 27 edition of the Sandpoint News-Bulletin, the project would “have a
two-fold purpose: the conservation of youth in a most positive way by
introducing them to the outdoor life of hard work, the rewards of which they
can witness and evaluate for themselves and to promote conservation of our
natural resources and our timber stands in particular.” Also on the committee
were Kootenai County Probate Judge Eugene MacDonald and state legislators from
Bonner, Kootenai, and Shoshone counties. (Sandpoint News-Bulletin,
October 27, 1960, p. 1)
Advocate for Mentally Ill Children
In early December, a few weeks after the voters of Bonner
County had returned her to the probate court, Judge Sleep attended a workshop
in Lewiston for northern Idaho probate judges and social workers. One of the
issues she brought up during the meeting was the lack of public services for
mentally ill and intellectually-disabled children. According to an article in
the December 8 edition of the Spokesman-Review, Sleep “cited a case of a
mentally disturbed boy who had been abandoned by his family” but did not
qualify for foster care through the state’s Department of Public Assistance,
nor was there a place for him in any of Idaho’s state psychiatric hospitals.
“We seem to be minus a link,” she is quoted as saying in the article. (Spokesman-Review,
December 8, 1960, p. 4)
Judge Sleep’s Bingham County colleague, Probate Judge
Winston L. Benson, voiced a similar concern at the meeting. Judge Benson, as
quoted in an editorial in the December 8 edition of the Idaho Statesman,
said the Department of Public Assistance “has done little to aid in the
handling of cases of dependent children although the department has funds for
this purpose.” Despite suggesting that the judges’ criticisms may have been
“aimed at the wrong target,” the editors also acknowledged that they demanded
attention. “The hard fact of the matter is that these probate judges are
calling attention to a deficiency somewhere along the line—and that the
public’s recognition and acceptance of its responsibility for the care of
dependent children—orphans or abandoned—and of mentally disordered little folks
takes top rating and is as old as civilization itself.” (Idaho Statesman,
December 8, 1960, p. 4)
At this workshop and a similar one in Pocatello for probate judges in southern Idaho, Judge Sleep was the only woman to serve as a discussion leader.
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| Sandpoint News-Bulletin, November 3, 1960 |
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