The Youth Law Center sponsored this bill, which makes it more difficult for youth being tired as adults to be routinely transferred to adult jails. The bill was enacted into law. It adds Welfare and Institutions Code section 206.7, which provides that a juvenile may be transferred to an adult jail, only if the court […]
Yellen v. Ada County Order of Permanent Injunction
Yellen v. Ada County was filed on behalf of juveniles incarcerated at the Ada County Jail in Boise. In May, 1982, 17-year-old Christopher Peterman was placed in the jail for failing to pay $73 in traffic fines. Over a 14-hour period, he was tortured and finally murdered by other prisoners in his cell. Another 17-year-old, […]
Yellen v. Ada County Second Amended Complaint
Yellen v. Ada County was filed on behalf of juveniles incarcerated at the Ada County Jail in Boise. In May, 1982, 17-year-old Christopher Peterman was placed in the jail for failing to pay $73 in traffic fines. Over a 14-hour period, he was tortured and finally murdered by other prisoners in his cell. Another 17-year-old, […]
Weathers v. Leidig Partial Consent Judgment
Weathers v. Leidig was a federal civil rights class action challenging the confinement of juveniles in the county jail for subjecting them to cruel, unconscionable and illegal conditions of confinement; placing status offenders and other juveniles who presented no danger to themselves or others in secure confinement cells; failing to separate juveniles adequately from adult […]
Weathers v. Leidig Second Amended Complaint
Weathers v. Leidig was a federal civil rights class action challenging the confinement of juveniles in the county jail for subjecting them to cruel, unconscionable and illegal conditions of confinement; placing status offenders and other juveniles who presented no danger to themselves or others in secure confinement cells; failing to separate juveniles adequately from adult […]
Stauring v. Baca Complaint
Stauring v. Baca, filed in December 2003, charges that the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department violates the First Amendment rights of religious volunteers working at the Los Angeles county jail. The suit was filed on behalf of Javier Stauring, a Los Angeles chaplain honored in November 2003, by Human Rights Watch for his efforts to change […]
Robbins v. Glenn County Consent Judgment
Robbins v. Glenn County was a civil rights damage action against rural Glenn County in northern California, where a 15-year-old girl committed suicide while incarcerated in the county jail. In early 1987, Youth Law Center attorneys obtained a substantial damage settlement for the girl’s parents. In addition, the county agreed to cease holding children in […]
Robbins v. Glenn County Amended Complaint
Robbins v. Glenn County was a civil rights damage action against rural Glenn County in northern California, where a 15-year-old girl committed suicide while incarcerated in the county jail. In early 1987, Youth Law Center attorneys obtained a substantial damage settlement for the girl’s parents. In addition, the county agreed to cease holding children in […]
Melvin P. v. Lauderdale County Order
Melvin P. v. Lauderdale County was a lawsuit challenging the confinement of juveniles in cells normally used for solitary confinement of adult inmates in the Lauderdale County jail. Children were being held in unsanitary conditions, were not separated from adult inmates, and were not provided with any rehabilitative or recreational activities during confinement. As a […]
Melvin P. v. Lauderdale County Complaint
Melvin P. v. Lauderdale County was a lawsuit challenging the confinement of juveniles in cells normally used for solitary confinement of adult inmates in the Lauderdale County jail. Children were being held in unsanitary conditions, were not separated from adult inmates, and were not provided with any rehabilitative or recreational activities during confinement. As a […]
Melvin C. v. Schilling Maryland Correctional Special Education Action Plan
The Youth Law Center in collaboration with the Public Justice Center, Inc. and two private attorneys, filed Melvin C. v. Schilling against the Maryland Department of Education and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Melvin C. was the first case in the country to challenge the failure of an adult prison system to […]
Melvin C. v. Schilling Complaint
The Youth Law Center in collaboration with the Public Justice Center, Inc. and two private attorneys, filed Melvin C. v. Schilling against the Maryland Department of Education and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Melvin C. was the first case in the country to challenge the failure of an adult prison system to […]
M.M.B. v. Bonneville County Amended Consent Judgment
M.M.B. v. Bonneville County was filed by attorneys from the Youth Law Center and the National Center for Youth Law to end the incarceration of children in the Bonneville County jail. Attorneys found that children as young as twelve had been held in the jail. In December, 1986, the federal court entered an order prohibiting […]
M.M.B. v. Bonneville County Complaint
M.M.B. v. Bonneville County was filed by attorneys from the Youth Law Center and the National Center for Youth Law to end the incarceration of children in the Bonneville County jail. Attorneys found that children as young as twelve had been held in the jail. In December, 1986, the federal court entered an order prohibiting […]
John Doe v. Minidoka County Settlement Agreement
John Doe v. Minidoka County was a civil rights class action challenging the conditions of confinement for juveniles and the policies and practices of defendants for confining juveniles in the Minidoka and Cassia County Jails. The named plaintiff was detained for 45 days in the county jail while awaiting an adjudication hearing. He was not […]
John Doe v. Minidoka County Amended Complaint
John Doe v. Minidoka County was a civil rights class action challenging the conditions of confinement for juveniles and the policies and practices of defendants for confining juveniles in the Minidoka and Cassia County Jails. The named plaintiff was detained for 45 days in the county jail while awaiting an adjudication hearing. He was not […]
Hunt v. Los Angeles Permanent Injunction
Hunt v. Los Angeles, a taxpayer lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, challenged locking children in the Lennox Sheriff’s Substation. In May, 1986, the Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled that no children could be held in the jail where there was sight or sound contact with adult […]
Hunt v. Los Angeles Second Amended Complaint
Hunt v. County of Los Angeles, a taxpayer lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, challenged locking children in the Lennox Sheriff’s Substation. In May, 1986, the Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled that no children could be held in the jail where there was sight or sound contact […]
Horn v. Oldham County Consent Decree
Horn v. Oldham County was brought by the 14-year-old brother and the mother of Robbie Horn to end the incarceration of any other children in the jail. At 11:00 p.m. on December 16, 1982, 15-year-old Robbie was ordered held in the Oldham County jail in LaGrange, Kentucky, after having had an argument with his mother. […]
Horn v. Oldham County Complaint
Horn v. Oldham County was brought by the 14-year-old brother and the mother of Robbie Horn to end the incarceration of any other children in the jail. At 11:00 p.m. on December 16, 1982, 15-year-old Robbie was ordered held in the Oldham County jail in LaGrange, Kentucky, after having had an argument with his mother. […]
Eric P. v. Cumberland County Consent Judgment
Eric P. v. Cumberland County was filed on behalf of a young boy who was sexually assaulted by an older adolescent in a county jail cell. The assault was the result of inadequate screening of new inmates by correctional personnel and inadequate supervision. Attorneys also argued in the lawsuit that the Cumberland County Jail did […]
Eric P. v. Cumberland County Complaint
Eric P. v. Cumberland County was filed on behalf of a young boy who was sexually assaulted by an older adolescent in a county jail cell. The assault was the result of inadequate screening of new inmates by correctional personnel and inadequate supervision. Attorneys also argued in the lawsuit that the Cumberland County Jail did […]
Doe v. Burwell Consent Judgment
Doe v. Burwell, a federal civil rights class action, challenged the incarceration of children in the Lawrence County jail in Ironton, Ohio, without adequate separation from adult prisoners and under oppressive conditions of confinement. One of the named plaintiffs was a 15-year-old girl who ran away from home, voluntarily returned to her parents, then was […]
Doe v. Burwell Complaint
Doe v. Burwell, a federal civil rights class action, challenged the incarceration of children in the Lawrence County jail in Ironton, Ohio, without adequate separation from adult prisoners and under oppressive conditions of confinement. One of the named plaintiffs was a 15-year-old girl who ran away from home, voluntarily returned to her parents, then was […]
Desrosiers v. Androscoggin County Consent Judgment
Desrosiers v. Androscoggin County challenged the conditions of confinement in a county jail in Maine and was filed in April 1985 on behalf of a boy who spent over two months in this adult jail. The jail was extraordinarily filthy and oppressive and the county provided no supervision, programming, education or recreation for the juveniles […]
Desrosiers v. Androscoggin County First Amended Complaint
Desrosiers v. Androscoggin County challenged the conditions of confinement in a county jail in Maine and was filed in April 1985 on behalf of a boy who spent over two months in this adult jail. The jail was extraordinarily filthy and oppressive and the county provided no supervision, programming, education or recreation for the juveniles […]
Baumgartner v. City of Long Beach Stipulated Judgment and Permanent Injunction
Baumgartner v. City of Long Beach, a taxpayer lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles, the City of Long Beach, and the Los Angeles Department of Children’s Services, challenged the incarceration of thousands of children each year in the Long Beach Jail. In February, 1987, the City of Long Beach agreed to end the incarceration […]
Baumgarter v. City of Long Beach First Amended Complaint
Baumgartner v. City of Long Beach, a taxpayer lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles, the City of Long Beach, and the Los Angeles Department of Children’s Services, challenged the incarceration of thousands of children each year in the Long Beach Jail. In February, 1987, the City of Long Beach agreed to end the incarceration […]
Application of Pacific Juvenile Defender Center for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of Appellant Rodrigo Caballero, and Amicus Curiae Brief
This amicus curiae brief was filed on behalf of appellant Rodrigo Caballero. The issue in appellant’s case concerned whether a sentence, imposed on a juvenile convicted of committing non-homicide offenses, that exceeded an offender’s life expectancy is the functional equivalent of a life sentence without the possibility of parole, under the Eighth Amendment within the […]
Graham v. Sullivan Amicus
The Youth Law Center is one of the Amici Curiae in this brief to the Supreme Court supporting the elimination of life without possibility of parole.
DJJ’s Implementation of AB 1628 Transferring Post-Release Supervision to County Probation
This memo summarizes a presentation at a public meeting of the Juvenile Parole Board (JPB) on January 31, 2011, at which Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) representatives explained how they will implement AB 1628, which as of January 19, 2011, transfers responsibility for post-release supervision from DJJ Parole to county probation departments. Procedures may be […]
Supplemental Amicus Curiae Letter of Pacific Juvenile Defender Center and Juvenile Law Center on Behalf of Defendant and Appellant Rodrigo Caballero
Sue Burrell wrote this letter on behalf of the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center to the Honorable Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court to answer the court’s question of what impact does Miller v. Alabama have on the court’s future decision in People v. Caballero. The short answer is that Miller has no […]