United States District Judge Richard Caputo issued an order late Wednesday denying nearly all of the defendants’ motions to dismiss, thus paving the way for the Kids-For-Cash federal civil lawsuit to move forward. Attorneys for Juvenile Law Center and Hangley Aronchick Segal and Pudlin, who represent the children, were pleased with the judge’s rulings.

“This means that the plaintiffs’ claims have legal merit and the case is ready to proceed,” said Marsha Levick, Deputy Director and Chief Legal Counsel for Juvenile Law Center. “We are prepared to do whatever is necessary to finally obtain justice for the children and families who were harmed in this travesty of justice.”

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As part of the efforts to right the wrongs of in the Luzerne County Juvenile Justice corruption scandal, the County announced on August 24 that they will fund a new juvenile unit within their Public Defender’s Office.  At a news conference, Chief Public Defender Al Flora announced the unit will have three full-time attorneys, and a caseworker.  The county scandal centered on judges taking money for placing children in a residential facility they had secret ties to. Most of the children should have received community treatment and this injustice occurred in large part because they did not have proper if any representation.  The new unit will serve all children brought before the juvenile court.

Highlights of the new unit include:

• Attorneys will receive extensive training on representing children.
• Parental income will not be considered.
• Children will have the same attorney for the duration of case.
• The unit will comply with nationally recognized standards of no more than 200 cases a year for each attorney.
• Attorneys will continue the new policy already in place that they meet with the child and family before the hearing, and have contact through all juvenile justice processes.  This is a change from the old practice that when a child did have representation, they often met with their attorney for the first time only minutes before the hearing.

Additionally, it was announced that the children will now have a separate waiting room at court.  Previously they shared the same room as all the adults coming in for court that day.

More Information:

• News Coverage of Press Conference
• Juvenile Defenders Association of Pennsylvania- Performance Guidelines for Quality and Effective Juvenile Delinquency Representation

A Report for the Governor, Legislature, and Courts and the Public.

On May 27, the PA Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice (ICJJ) issued its much-anticipated report about the “kids for cash” scandal in Luzerne County.  The Commission was created in 2009 by an act of the General Assembly, with the support of the Governor and the Supreme Court, to determine how the Luzerne County juvenile justice system failed; restore public confidence in the administration of justice; and prevent similar events from happening again.

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