Brought a Section 1983 civil rights damage action on behalf of a foster youth who had been in foster care for three and a half years without any judicial review and without the provision of services to help him return home to his family by the county child welfare agency.
Filed a civil rights class action lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania law and practices that governed the detention of youth charged with committing delinquent acts.
Argued that law violated due process and involved incarceration in jail-like facilities that mixed those already adjudicated delinquent with youth not yet found guilty of a crime.
Challenged the adequacy of Philadelphia’s program of aftercare probation, which was responsible for a child’s course of treatment in, discharge from, and supervision following detention for juvenile offenses.
Represented Pennsylvania children in challenging the way the state implemented the funding formula that paid for services for delinquent and dependent children.
Argued that a sentence of 110 years to life (three consecutive life-terms) for a non-homicide offense committed as a juvenile violates the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Graham v. Florida.
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